Odogu, Kostic, the Cissès and more: How Milan have invested heavily to stockpile potential gems

While AC Milan might have brought on more experience in the summer, their commitment to planning for the future remains.

The arrival of Massimiliano Allegri immediately marked a shift in how Milan go about things, and the window prior to the 2025-26 campaign showed us this. The signings of players such as Adrien Rabiot and Luka Modric denoted a switch to more ready-now profiles in key areas, for example.

Not only that, but the 30-year-old and 40-year-old were joined by Pervis Estupinan and Christopher Nkunku, both of whom are 27 and would be considered in the prime of their careers. The 32-year-old Niclas Füllkrug arrived in January as well.

Around that, though, there was a sprinkling of youthful exuberance. In fact, a lot of the investment that Milan have made in young talents has gone somewhat under the radar, and could even go on to form the future core.

Jewels in the crown

In terms of names for the future, the two players who pushed in at the front of the queue were Zachary Athekame and David Odogu, given that each cost a potential €10m (including bonuses) to sign from Young Boys and Wolfsburg respectively.

Not know was much about either, given the former played in the Swiss league and the latter had just a handful of senior appearances in Germany. Yet, what matters is that the scouts have seen something, and the combined money put up is about the same as what a first team starter costs.

More has been seen from Athekame so far, filling in as a right wing-back when Alexis Saelemaekers needed a rest. He has an assist to his name and his crossing looks a real weapon, as does his size and athleticism. The Swiss can actually feel a bit unfortunate to be dropped when the Belgian came back.

Odogu meanwhile remains a bit of an object of mystery, having played just 16 minutes for Massimiliano Allegri’s team since joining. He has played three times for Milan Futuro, which says a lot about his place in the pecking order as the sixth choice centre-back (even Davide Bartesaghi was moved back to play in the three-man defence).

Then in the winter came three more statement signings, at least in terms of replenishing the youth sector following some exits like that of Mattia Liberali. One of them was ironically the player keeping Liberali out of the team at his new club.

That man is Alphadjo Cissè (19), a second striker who arrived from Hellas Verona but is on loan at Catanzaro, where he will remain until the end of the season. Numerous sources confirmed that the Rossoneri have invested around €10m for him, showing the potential that they think he has.

We did a more in-depth profile on Cissè at the time of his arrival, but effectively he was already one of the best players in the second tier. He will miss around four months due to surgery on his tendon, so the planning for 2026-27 will have to be careful.

Then, the directors also closed a deal for Yahya Idrissi-Regragui (18 years old) in the winter mercato, who arrived from Chelsea. The teenager plays as an attacking midfielder and had begun to surge up the academy system with the Blues.

In 2023-24 he rose to stardom with the U16s, scoring 19 goals and adding 14 assists, earning a promotion to the U18s where he scored once in four appearances. He is also capped by Morocco at youth international level too, most recently playing for them at U18 level.

Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!

Finally, Milan also wrapped up a deal for Magnus Dalpiaz, an Austrian full-back who came from Bayern Munich. In this case the operation is a little bit different: Bayern have reserved a buy-back clause so they retain a bit of control, as Real Madrid did when they let Alex Jimenez join Milan.

Dalpiaz is a right-back who until a few months ago played in the German fourth tier with Bayern Munich II (their second team). A highly versatile player, Massimo Oddo has also used him on the left. In his last match with the Austrian Under-19 national team, he played as a centre-back.

The most recent name to enter the panorama of talents at Milan is Andrej Kostic, a Montenegrin striker standing nearly 190cm tall, who joined Milan for a fee of €3-3.5m. Starting next season, he will be part of the Milan Futuro squad, aiming to develop without pressure and then make the jump.

What is interesting about Kostic is that he is already proven at senior level, having joined from Partizan Belgrade, where he scored 10 goals in 27 league games this season. He is someone that the Rossoneri courted for months and were finally able to secure.

These are the new flagships of the youth sector, that must be added to a list which includes players out on loan such as Francesco Camarda and Christian Comotto. By now plenty is known about the Italian duo, who are hoping to follow the lead of Bartesaghi.

Diamonds to polish

Then we come to some of the names that are perhaps not as high profile, but must nonetheless be watched closely as they could make a rapid ascent to prominence in the coming months and years.

Aron Babaj joined Milan last January from Kosovo’s KF Prishtina. He is a midfielder standing nearly 1.90m tall, naturally right-footed with good attacking ability. He was signed for the U17 team, where he has played six games and has scored one goal, occasionally training with the Primavera. He represents Kosovo at U17 level.

El Hadj Malick Cissè is a central defender born in 2008, who arrived in Milan during the recent winter window. He was acquired from the Be Sport Academy in Dakar, Senegal, a modern training centre that has also collaborated with Barcelona for a few years.

He plays regularly in the Primavera and, among the newest arrivals, is the player who has settled in best. Milan have invested heavily in Cissé: he took up a non-EU player slot (two can be registered per season). There were even rumours that Barcelona and RB Leipzig were pipped in the race.

Jacopo Sardo is a bit older than the others (2005) and since January has been a regular starter in Oddo’s midfield for Milan Futuro, where he has 10 appearances and one goal (a recent winner vs. Oltrepo). Milan signed him from Monza, although he never made his Serie B debut.

Having come through the youth teams of Roma and Lazio, last season he played in the German third tier with Saarbrücken, so he has plenty of experience at the age of 21. The hope is that he will bloom quickly, given he is a bit more advanced in years, but the early signs are good.

Cheveyo Balentien’s Italian career is the kind of experience many young players like him dream of. At the beginning of August, he had a trial with PSG, then moved to Milan (signing for the Futuro at first). He made his Serie D debut, and trained for a week alongside Luka Modric.

Then, at the end of the month, Allegri gave him his Serie A debut in Lecce (two appearances). Balentien quickly captivated Max, who called him up to the first team several times. Under Oddo, however, he played five games between the league and the cup with one goal and one assist.

He is a physical right winger (189cm tall) with great pace, who Milan signed from Ado Den Haag. Born in Holland, he chose to represent Suriname, his home country.

Finally, we come to Yanis Messaoudi, an Algerian central defender who arrived last summer from Racing Club de France. Born in 2009, he is playing for AC Milan’s U17 team this season, where he has made 14 appearances and scored one goal. He signed his first professional contract last December.