AC Milan are looking at two Italians to strengthen the back line, but they must complete a sale in order to fund a move.
According to Tuttosport (via ViolaNews), Milan’s dream defensive signing is Giovanni Leoni of Parma. However, he is also liked by Inter and Juventus, and in general by everyone in Serie A after a second half of the season as a real protagonist at the age of just 18.
The Rossoneri are willing to sacrifice Malick Thiaw to free up the space and the money required to go for Leoni, given that Igli Tare has also reportedly already sold the German to Como for €25m.
However, Thiaw was hoping for a return to his homeland to a club playing in the Champions League, and has been stalling for time now. He has also spoken to Cesc Fabregas, but he is still not convinced, with Como expecting a definitive answer by midweek.
In the meantime, Milan are looking around and hoping that Newcastle United will come forward with a written offer that might be a bit more tempting than Como.
Once Thiaw leaves, Milan will go to Parma for Leoni, but there is a Plan B: Pietro Comuzzo from Fiorentina, another Italian defender with a value of no less than €30m. In fact, La Viola’s sporting director Pradè has publicly admitted that Commisso refused €35m from Napoli in January.
not bad at all:
Pavlovic – Comuzzo/Leoni
Tomori – Gabbia
starting fullbacks are still a mystery…
I still don’t know why we want to sell Thiaw and keep Tomori. Outside a 3 man defence, I think Thiaw is much more reliable than him plus he is way younger and has a good potential
I agree. Could understand a total overhaul with Italian defenders and sell both, if they really wanted to start over , revolution etc
But if we were only getting rid of one, I’d sell Tomori and keep Thiaw.
Perhaps its a function of interest, maybe not many(any?) suitable bids for Tomori from other leagues?
I guess it’s absence of interest for Tomori like suggest but then why don’t we offer him to Parma in a direct swap arrangement or to fiorentina in a player plus cash deal. Although I doubt if Tomori will accept any of these clubs
Thiaw give us more money and Tomori, for some reason, I think he can do a comeback… Pavlovic currently better but I wouldn’t be surprised if he took his starting position back…
also, my fear with Thiaw is that he suits possession style better, defending 1v1 isn’t his best quality and he’s consistently error prone (not the best quality for a CB)… I think in another team he can do better and we would get 25-30M, which is huge profit from what we paid for him (7-8M)
Thiaw has a better market. He’s on a low salary, with a good (not great) injury record and is younger. Pretty sure if we could move Tomori on we would do but not so simple.
Because no club bid for tomori while thiaw got bid from como. How can you sell if there is no club want to buy tomori ?
A very quality alternative. Infact it may be easier dealing with Fiorentina as we may have players that they will need, so a player plus cash should make it easier for us. We offload a lightweight player and get quality player for a cheaper value
It’s crazy to me that they want to sell Thiaw. We don’t need Comuzzo. We need an experienced CB to pair with Thiaw. They should sign Milan Skriniar instead.
Both Pavlovic and Thiaw are very young and they would improve with an experienced CB like Skriniar playing beside them at the back.
Leoni and Comuzzo are too young and too risky since we don’t have any experienced CB like Kjaer to help them grow.
Thiaw although young and good potential, is very error prone and once he loses confidence it gets worse. Might as well replace him with someone young again, he’s not a starter anyway. With skrinar I doubt he would like to join with his inter past, and his wages. I would rather find someone else closer to the twilight of their career as well so they don’t expect to be a starter either.
In case you hadn’t noticed, our defensive phase has been awful under three different coaches – anyone in that back four at all times was error prone.
Thiaw is the only one who could play from the back with the ball at his feet and could grow under Allegri.
Both Tomori and Thiaw are bad. Tomori is fast but he makes silly mistakes. Thiaw is big but slow and also makes huge mistakes. I would sell both and use the money to Leoni or Commuzo.
Thats the dream for the management too, only Pavlovic and Gabbia is definetly have place in the team, but looks like no bid from England and Germany for both of them
Gabbia can play out the back as well but he doesn’t do it as much as thiaw. Tomori has hit his celling and thiaw is a confidence player and can be easily shaken.