AC Milan want to secure the signing of Monaco midfielder Youssouf Fofana before Euro 2024 begins in Germany in one week’s time.
As reported by Sport Mediaset (via Milan News), the Rossoneri don’t want to wait until after France’s Euro 2024 campaign has come to an end as the price of Fofana could rise, along with the interest in him from other clubs.
There seems to be unilateral agreement that the Monaco man would be the perfect fit for Milan when it comes to a defensive midfielder who can offer the defence more support than it enjoyed last season.
Work is ongoing to ensure that Joshua Zirkzee arrives soon as the new striker but the club do not want to hang about when it comes to Fofana. Cesc Fabregas himself has said that he thinks Fofana is heading to Milan and it is believed that Monaco want €20-15m for the Frenchman.
He has one year left on his contract which is why the fee is low, but it will certainly rise if Fofana impressed with France in Germany and other more wealthy clubs decide that he would be a good addition for them.
Milan must act quickly to convince Fofana that Milan is his destination.
Having him+ zirkzee alone with new coach and whole preseason could be really benificial in persuing second star in new season
Zirkzee, Fofana, Boungernou and TSantos those are the targets and getting them definitely takes Milan up a level from last 2-3 seasons.
We need to wrap up Boungernou up before Euros because he could be double after!!!
We can offer Pobega in Bungorno deal.
Buongiorno.
But, I could see us going for Brassier instead.
Not a DM tho. Or should I say he is a DM as much as musah is. Since we bought him for that role but obviously he flopped. Cuz he isn’t a dm… yup our man musah. Kessies younger brother they said. Similar player, they said. Will fill the gap. Yup
Checking the datamb analysis between Kessie and Musah, he really was a copy paste of him. Either Pioli wasn’t able to deploy him in same role or these so much bragged algorithms are just sh*t.
Maybe he lackes his brain or something. What I saw from musah on the field this year is nothing compared to Kessie..not alike at all. Krunic was better kessie than musah..
The algorithms are shît. Doubt they have any anyway
How many years again did we wait until Kessie started performing? Give this kid some time he is only 21!
No waiting. He came and kicked midfield a$$
Tonali took a year. Even though he had Serie experience.
Kessie almost labeled as a flop before Ibra and Kjaer arrival
Or maybe he’s just a young kid who needs a little time and was also asked to play different role almost every time they put him out there. RB, wingback, RW sometimes. Some consistency would do him good. Still light years better than Krunic who couldn’t even cut it at Fenerbache. There’s 2 people in the world that think Krunic is good. You and Pioli.
How often did Musah play as a DM under Pioli so you can say that he flopped? We saw him in every position except a DM.
Also, Everyone keeps talking how Fofana isn’t a DM but a box to box midfielder. Guess what Kessie was, a box to box midfielder. In Atalanta and his first 2 years at Milan he was a box to box who wanted to push forward. Once Pioli came in and started playing with 2 men pivot Kessie became more defensive. He and Pioli didn’t get along at first because of that.
It’s about having the physical ability and willingness to play in a certain position. Musah and RLC can be more defensive if they are asked to do that, just like Fofana. It’s all about what they are asked to do by the coach. RLC was bullying both Tonali and Bennacer at Chelsea as a defensive mid but Pioli asked him to play as a 2nd striker at Milan, and yet people come in here and saying that he can’t defend.
Fofana is a complete midfielder. He has the tools to excel in a more defensive role if he is asked to do that and they stick with 1 position, just like Musah, unlike under Pioli where he was playing a different position every week.
^^ This
Totally agree. This is why I’m glad Pioli is gone and management didn’t allow him to finish out his last year of his contract.
Musah is young and young players need stability to develop in the position that is best suited for him. But instead Pioli was playing Musah all over the place. RLC is not an attacking mid. Okafor is not a winger.
Our team is so much stronger than we think. It’s mostly because of the crazy tactics and injuries caused by Pioli and his staff in addition to playing these players out of their natural position
That’s not true at all. I won’t expect people remember how a player player 6 years ago because most can’t even remember what they ate a week ago.. Kessie was always playing the same. At atalanta, at Milan, at Barca..
What ruben did or didn’t do in 2 games aka 180 minutes matter not. Zero relevance.
And ofc our Muash.. musah played 40 games. Started about 20 of those in the midfield. 2241 minutes played. That’s more min than Adli btw. Yeah I saw enough of musah. And sure he is only 21. A 21 yo with 108 games for valenica btw. Wanna guess how many a 23 yo adli played for Nice? 104!
So don’t talk to me like he’s some 21yo fresh from the academy, a..
How did the “great” Tonali look in his 1st year at Milan when he was the same age as Musah? Trash. But we have grown men crying tears after him 2 years later.
The fúck has that to do with anything? Strawman BS
Oh and go check Kessie under Montella and Gattuso and tell me that he always played the same.
He played as a box to box midfielder at Barca too.
He plays as a box to box midfielder for Ivory Coast as well.
Montela? Lol get your dates right..
Like I said he plays the same everywhere. How thick are you little boi? Just go look at his heatmaps ffs
The Tonali comparison has a lot to do with Musah. After Tonali 1st season same sh!t that is said today about Musah was said about Tonali.
Tonali was worse in his 1st season at Milan than Musah ans he didn’t come from the Spanish league and wasn’t played in a different position every week.
They were the same age.
You don’t discard a young player after one season because you have a dumb a*s coach that doesn’t know hoe to use him.
Look at CDK.
Has nothing to do with musah. Aren’t even the same type of player. And who said anything about discarding anyone? I merely said he flopped. Which is the truth.
Cdk also flopped. I also believed he needs to stay and we need to develop him. Tough job for pioli tho. He prefers logs like Ruben on am
Musah played everywhere because was recruited more for his athletic abilities than his football IQ. He doesn’t have a true position, he’s lost on the field. Maybe Pioli tried to teach him during practice, nobody was attending so we don’t know. Considering that we paid 20M€ and that it’s reportedly the price tag for Fofana, Musah can be considered a flop. He deserves another chance but he didn’t show anything as a football player. De Ketelaere was the same age, he costed a bit more but but he was considered as a big talent, unlike Musah that nobody knew. People were mad at the management for De Ketelaere and Musah should have the same treatment, he has been a waste of money so far.
Now Fofana is a cornerstone player for Monaco, that finished 2nd behind PSG, and a solid contributor for France for a while. He could even be a starter at the Euro since Tchouaméni is not 100% ready after his injury. The fact that Deschamps calls him also is a sign that he has character and good mentality. For 15-20M€ he’s an absolute steal.
Dude we can see Musah in the team eventhough he play bad but with CdK last season we have 10 men and 1 boy who dont know what to do in the team, if you said he is considered a BIG TALENT, no way Atalanta want to negotiate the 20++ to get him
In terms of Euros for impact on the field I agree. Alas Musah was a flop in much the same way as CDK or Orgi.
However he wasn’t bought to play every week. He was bought to develop and fill out the squad.
In my eyes it’s not only that he was played in so many different positions. It’s that game over game even the same position was either asked to do wildly different things or that adjacent positions were asked to do wildly different things.
When I think about Reinjders, Musah, Puli and RLC all I can see is a significantly better season this year as they won’t just know where to be on the pitch, but also where others will be as well. Over the first 10 games of the year I expect to see a level up from all of them.
I believe this is illustrated by Chuk most of all however. Watch any game from the first 3/4 of the season. He is entirely clueless on where to be often colliding with teammates or crowding them. 75% of a season to know where to be.
Positioning is a practice outcome more than a game time outcome. It can be repeated at various speeds and carefully studied on tape. EXCEPT if everything changes so drastically it becomes largely incomprehensible
Chuk was only deployed as an RW and could parae the tactical expectations. Musah played in 3 diff roles ergo …
So Musah didn’t meet standard last season. Agreed. I see excellent potential though if Fonseca plays a consistent set of tactics.
Forza Milan!
No I am not posting too quickly.
I don’t think we have the time to throw a dice and “hope” a box-to-box midfielder will actually be able to solve our defensive midfielder problem. It’s way more reasonable to get a defensive midfielder all together (since we seem to look at Tottenham, why not Hojbjerg ?). In the pre-Pioli era we never ranked higher than 5th, the team was in perpetual reconstruction, so we could afford to test stuff and hope they work. Now we sacked a coach who was second, our team just needs few key players in certain positions, we don’t have time to try stuff.
similar to what everyone has said. Musah has the physical abilties. He wasnt deployed as one by Pioli Nor is he a DM specialist. I get your point and i share it. Fofana has the tools but isnt a true, already ready DM. You and i are looking at getting a Casemiro, a Gatusso (DM already). Having said that two more things
1. Musah is just 21. He looks older but let’s not forget that. He has a ton to grow and for a 21yr old, he’s really good.
2. Hopefully new coach can turn them into DMs. I mean RLC, Fofana, and Musah have all the tools to be one. Plus if Adli learned it and could do it, I’m sure the others can too. They just need to be willing
Gattuso a dm already?!.
Gattuso was also a box to box midfielder. In his first year or so at Milan under Zaccheroni when Milan was playing 343 Gattuso played as a right wing back. Milan midfield at that time was Coco, Albertini, Ambrosini and Gattuso. Coco and Gattuso were the wingbacks. Helveg and Guglielminpietro rotating.
Gattuso was a more defensive of the 2 box2box mids under Ancelotti. Seedorf could do both attack and defend. He was the best midfielder on those squads
Musah needs time to develop, more minutes to grow and ONE position to focus on. There is a stellar DM in him waiting to blossom.
Well he isn’t gonna get minutes or develop if we bring in fofana. I don’t even need to elaborate on why, right?
Musah is no DM, a defensive b2b like Kante or Kessie maybe, but not a DM.
Milan would be wise to secure Fofana before the tournament to avoid a bidding war. He looked pretty good for France in their recent friendly, granted it was against Luxembourg. I’d be curious to see how he plays against better teams…
(I’m not posting too quickly. This comment section algo is terrible)
Yes Musah needs time to develop. He is very RAW.
I like Musah – BUT – paying 20M for a DEVELOPMENT player with our limited budget was a mistake – especially since Valencia needed to sell and he didn’t have many suitors.
At best he is a backup. Will he start over Reindjers, Benny, Fofana (assuming we get him) RLC or Adli?? No. Reijnders and Fofana would be the starters in a 4-2-3-1. If we move to a 4-3-3 – then 2 of RLC, Chukuweze or Pulisic would sit and I doubt that would happen. Plus he’s just not good enough yet. Perhaps in a few years – let’s hope. But he has LOTS to learn. So 20M for a backup was bad business when we could have used that $$ in other areas. If he wasn’t American I doubt we would have purchased him or at very least overpay for him.
(I’m US)
Puli being US was definitely a consideration. Casual fans started asking me about Milan after his signing. Clearly shirt sales in a greenfield market was both a target and success of this move.
Nobody really knew Musah. Indeed he’s really more Italian than US. Sort of too bad for Milan in that sense. So I honestly don’t think is US International status was a big factor.
His athleticism is amazing and his IQ seems high. He speaks Italian natively because he grew up there, so likely he was seen as having a smaller learning curve to Serie A. His details are really off like passing accuracy and positioning for sure. I suspect most other folks here Kessie 2.0 aligns with the primary motivation.
(Again I am not posting too quickly)
Fofana seems like a good player, but buying yet another central midfielder without letting anyone go?
There is already Reijnders, Bennacer, Musah, Pobega, Adli and Loftus-Cheek. That’s already 6 of them, and good to mention that Fonseca almost always played using Attacking Midfielder. None of them are attacking midfielders, so on top of that we would need to sign at least one attacking one as well (preferably 2, but maybe Pulisic would play there).
Fofana is great in a defensive role and will fulfill a requirement. Brassier is another one we should look at too. Of course, I’d love Buongiorno but we aren’t spending 40 million on a CB and another 40 million on Zirkzee.
I’m not entirely sold on Zirkzee… as he had 12 goals last season. Maybe my fears are misfounded, but that makes me nervous.
I wish we would inquire about Ricci or Rovella.
The midfield will be crowded with new additions though, we’ll see who they offload.
Musah needs to study every minute of Seedorfs play that’s available on YouTube, and stay behind to practie finishing for 45 minutes after training a few days a week for half a season. He isn’t a DM, I think, but he’s certainly no winger. If his finishing, passing and decision-making in final third gets a lift he can be a danger man running at defences.
Musah has no tactical intelligence, he’s dumber than a box of rocks. He’s playing in the most tactically disciplined league in the world, he’s not going to make it. He’s better suited to the EPL or Germany. He should never have been signed.
Agreed he’s looked pretty clueless but 1) he’s young and 2) he’s american
From a marketing viewpoint ahead of FIFA WC2026 we’ll likely keep him especially as he seems satisfied with a squad rotation role.
There’s a chance like Adli, he gets a run as a starter, with good coaching there’s always a chance a young player improves dramatically. Let’s see