Dodged bullets or golden goals: Milan’s summer striker targets revisited

AC Milan had issues with their attacking department throughout last season, with many pinning it on summer transfer failures.

After being linked with countless different centre-forwards from various leagues around Europe, Milan’s eventual choice at the end of August was a surprise one: they opted to sign Christopher Nkunku from Chelsea for a figure of around €42m including bonuses.

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The deal raised eyebrows not only because of the costs involved but also because – as a profile – Nkunku was and is very different to the other targets that were being mentioned. It was said that Massimiliano Allegri wanted a traditional No.9, more of a target man, which the Frenchman is not.

Various other operations were explored prior to going for Nkunku, but not came to fruition. Would Milan have been better off if they paid up for another one of the options on their list? Let’s revisit some of the links.

Dusan Vlahovic

As soon as Allegri was named as the head coach, the links with a move for Vlahovic exploded. It never seemed to be all that close given that Juventus were reluctant for him to join a rival, and his €12m net salary is an eye-watering amount.

However, the coach had worked with the Serbian in Turin so there was an understanding already there. Not only that, but the fact his deal expired at the end of the season and there was no sign of a renewal opened the door a bit.

Had Milan invested heavily and signed Vlahovic and had he replicated the campaign he had, we would currently be talking about a flop. This is largely due to the fact he missed several months with a complete calf tear that saw him sidelined for over 25 games.

Despite this, he did score seven goals in Serie A and three in the Champions League, so would have been up there alongside Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic – two other injury hit forwards – as the top scorers for Milan across all competitions.

Now, things have come full circle back to Vlahovic facing an uncertain future. Juve failed to get Champions League and are unwilling to satisfy the former Fiorentina man’s demands, so there is mystery about where he ends up. With no Allegri, it won’t be in red and black.

Rasmus Hojlund

At the same time as the Vlahovic links surfaced, Milan also became strongly acquainted with Rasmus Hojlund, who Manchester United made it clear they were willing to offload.

Igli Tare and his team negotiated over the Danish striker for a month but it fell through due to disagreements over the terms of his transfer from Old Trafford. More specifically, there was an unwillingness from the leadership to make the option to buy into an obligation and get the deal done.

In his first season back in Serie A, Hojlund had a mixed time of things. He still netted 16 goals (12 in the league) across 44 games in all competitions, yet that probably wasn’t what Napoli were looking for when they committed to a €50m operation.

However, Milan were provided with a reminder of what might have been in the Supercoppa Italiana semi-final. The Dane was simply devastating, providing a perfect assist for David Neres’ goal and then scoring a brilliant goal of his own to make it 2-0 in what was a torrid night for Koni De Winter.

Victor Boniface

Milan were on the verge of signing Victor Boniface in mid-August in what would have been an initial loan with an option to buy. However, when he began his medical some concerns arose that meant the club wanted further opinion, and eventually the deal was called off.

The Nigerian did get his move in the end, joining Werder Bremen on a season-long dry loan. This provoked the obvious question: why was he deemed good enough to pass one medical, but not the one the Rossoneri did? Only those at the heart of the operation truly know what happened.

Boniface is one striker that Milan will not feel any regret over. The 25-year-old played just 11 games and less than 400 minutes for Bremen, having battled with cartilage damage and general fitness issues. He did not score and got two assists.

He even went viral as some supporters suggested that the former USG star had become overweight. It is quite sad to see such a promising name struggle so much with injuries, though Milan’s medical team were right in hindsight to do all the checks they did.

Mateo Retegui

Following a sensational 25-goal league campaign with Atalanta, Mateo Retegui emerged as an ambitious summer target. Fabrizio Romano spoke in a YouTube video on his channel and gave some interesting background about the pursuit, which ultimately fell short financially.

“In June, Igli Tare made several inquiries about bringing Mateo Retegui to Milan, but at different prices, the Rossoneri would never have paid €66-70m,” he stated.

“We were talking about different figures, around €35-40m with bonuses. Atalanta never opened up and waited for Saudi Arabia. Milan, however, had some thoughts about it.”

Retegui’s return in Saudi Arabia so far has been a solid one, with 19 goals in 31 games, of which 16 games in 28 league matches. He is currently sidelined with an injury and isn’t expected back for a few weeks.

What many will remember though is how Retegui failed to really deliver for the Italian national team in their World Cup qualifying campaign, around the time he was being linked with a Serie A return, with Milan mentioned again.

Moise Kean

Speaking of leading the line for Italy, Moise Kean is another No.9 that the Diavolo were credited with interest in. Again it was an obvious connection to make given that Allegri helped launch Kean while he was at Juventus, before he started banging them in at Fiorentina.

After a 2024-25 season with 19 Serie A goals – second only to Retegui in the Capocannoniere standings – Kean never really seemed like a realistic or affordable option for Milan, and so things didn’t end up developing.

It might have been a blessing, because while Kean has obvious potential, this season he returned only nine goals for La Viola who languished in a relegation battle before a late surge away from the drop zone.

The former PSG and Everton man was being mentioned as a target for the upcoming summer if Allegri remained. Now his price might have dropped to put him within budget for Milan, but Allegri has not remained.

Conrad Harder

Towards the end of August, as Milan started to move down their list of striker targets, the name Conrad Harder popped up. Negotiations moved quickly, to the extent that a medical was even booked in for the Dane in Italy.

Then, everything went quiet, until it emerged that Harder’s arrival in Milan had been delayed because Sporting CP wanted to find a replacement striker first. Just 24 hours after that the deal had fully fallen through.

On 2 September, Harder did end up leaving Portugal in the direction of RB Leipzig. The total package was understood to be around €26m, with €4m in performance-related add-ons potentially pushing the overall deal to €30m.

The 21-year-old still has time on his side, but his first season in Germany was not exactly a roaring success. He netted just four times in 37 games (three of them in the Bundesliga), though he did add four assists. It’s hard to imagine he would have done a lot better in Serie A.