AC Milan director Paolo Maldini made some very interesting comments after last night’s defeat against Inter about past decisions and the future of the squad.
Among the most intriguing things he was asked about is the choices that were made during the last summer transfer window in which the management chose to double down on young players like Charles De Ketelaere, Aster Vranckx and Tommaso Pobega rather than go for more established names.
There is an argument that inexperience and a lack of contribution from those signings is what has contributed to a poor season domestically for Milan as they might not finish in the top four, as well as the gulf in quality on display over the last four games against Inter.
Maldini spoke to Sky after the 1-0 loss last night and he explained some of the decisions that were made, including the one to invest in the Belgian playmakers, spending over €30m.
“De Ketelaere is an example of players who need to grow, that’s normal. It would have been much easier and much cheaper for us to go to a player like Dybala at the beginning of the season,” he said (via MilanNews).
“But would he have been the right player for our project? Would he have been appropriate and shared by our owners? No. We have an idea and want to build a young and talented team.
“It is risky to sign young players. Sandro [Tonali] struggled in his first season; the same happened with Charles this year. But this is our idea of football, our idea of investment.
“It’s a shared view with the owners. If I wanted a stronger line-up I would have made different choices in the market. We have a project which we are developing together. It takes time, knowing that we are Milan. Who better than me knows about our great history?”
