AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli is once again having to cope with an attacking department that keeps battling multiple injuries, which could force Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara to intervene in January.
Calciomercato.com write how it is paradoxically the right flank that has been the most stable in terms of selection, with Junior Messias and Alexis Saelemaekers having been alternated and each having made vital contributions.
In the playmaker role there is Charles De Ketelaere, Brahim Diaz and Yacine Adli. However, on the left side Rafael Leao has had to work overtime, practically always starting because of Ante Rebic’s injury issues. It is the same for Olivier Giroud at centre-forward too, with Divock Origi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic out.
For this reason Maldini and Massara could run for cover as early as January, perhaps even by reigniting the talks with Club Brugge for Noa Lang who is a player that the directors are big admirers of.
Bart Verhaeghe – the president of the Belgian club – gave some interesting background on Lang during an interview with Nieuwsblad.be.
“Noa received several offers, some clubs talked to him, like Milan or Leeds. For us he had the green light to leave, but in the end he chose to stay. Milan then signed Charles De Ketelaere, but there was a moment when they could have both. Lang is a very selective guy: he received an 18 million offer from Lille but he turned it down and told us he wanted to stay. Now we are focusing a lot on his character and his class.”
Milan could resume negotiations in January with the hope of adding another young talent to an attack that needs quality but above all availability.
