AC Milan’s problems when it comes to finding the right striker have been well documented, but the numbers further illuminate the issue.
It is no secret that Massimiliano Allegri is pushing hard with the management to bring a quality centre-forward to Milanello who can be decisive in both Serie A and the Champions League. Yet in recent seasons, the Rossoneri have already invested heavily in this position without returns.
For example, Milan spent over €30m on Santiago Gimenez last January, then last summer they signed Christopher Nkunku for a whopping €37m plus bonuses. However, both have disappointed, and as a result the search is underway again.
Striking numbers
Another fact exposes how bad the club have been at finding the correct No.9: Carlos Bacca is still the last Milan striker to have scored more than 15 goals (18) in a Serie A season (2015-16).
As Antonio Belloni points out, over the same time span the comparison with Inter’s strikers is merciless:
➤ 2015/16: 16 goals (Icardi)
➤ 2016/17: 24 goals (Icardi)
➤ 2017/18: 29 goals (Icardi)
➤ 2018/19: –
➤ 2019/20: 23 goals (Lukaku)
➤ 2020/21: 24 goals (Lukaku)
➤ 2021/22: 21 goals (Lautaro)
➤ 2022/23: 21 goals (Lautaro)
➤ 2023/24: 24 goals (Lautaro)
➤ 2024/25: –
➤ 2025/26: 16 goals (Lautaro)
Milan have not had a striker who has surpassed the 20-goal mark since Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2011-12 (he scored 28). After that, you have to go back to Andriy Shevchenko, who scored 24 goals in 2003-04. In fact, in the last 23 seasons, a Milan striker has gone over 20 goals only on two occasions.
Napoli – thanks to Edinson Cavani, Gonzalo Higuain, Dries Mertens and Victor Osimhen – have surpassed 20 goals in Serie A six times in the last 16 years:
➤ 2010/11: 26 goals (Cavani)
➤ 2011/12: 23 goals (Cavani)
➤ 2012/13: 29 goals (Cavani)
➤ 2015/16: 36 goals (Higuain)
➤ 2016/17: 28 goals (Mertens)
➤ 2022/23: 26 goals (Osimhen)
That is all because Allegri joined Milan in 25/26. They knew in advance so they “didn’t work well under Allegri”, as strikers never do…
Ibrahimovic records is under Allegri, and at Juventus he worked well with Tevez, Morata and Dybala
I am being sarcastic about this topic, since that is what most comments are when there is a mention of a striker not scoring. How Allegri is to blame.
Is it? The article criticizes the management more for not investing in the right striker in recent seasons.
How about you focus on what I wrote and not what you think? Most of you here can’t even read with understanding. I am, means I, not the article, or anyone else.
And “comments” is not the article. Hope it clears this up for you.
If Icardi, Lukaku and Lautaro played for Milan with the midfielders and wingers Milan had/has who can’t send a proper pass or cross, or refusing to pass the ball, they’d have struggled to score 15 goals too.
Gimenez played half a season at Milan last year and was injured most of this season. While Nkunku has to sit and watch Leao masterclass on a weekly basis.
Strikers need service. Strikers don’t get service at Milan
This is because Milan is a very unserious club.
Letting strikers like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Piatek leave prematurely.
Signing strikers like Matri instead of Tevez.
Higuain instead of Falcao.
Gimenez instead of Pavlidis have vastly contributed to the statistics put out.
Matri went to Juve and won the Scudetto.
The reality most players have struggled at Milan for 20 years (2007-2011 masked a decline because the older players hung on and Milan could still attract some big names).
Milan have been without a platform of players for over 20 years. They have had no interest in developing youth players so rely almost entirely on wheeling and dealing on the market with a constant turnover of players.
Milan have signed at least one striker every single season for over 20 years.
Benzema signed for Real in 2009 for €35 million and spent 14 years at the club. Milan signed about 20 strikers in the time Benzema played for Real Madrid.
This has happened all over the pitch.
Matri scored only 9 goals in that Scudetto win, so that argument does not hold water.
But I do agree that even if the likes of Aubameyang, Tevez, Falcao and Pavlidis were here, there is absolutely no guarantee that they would have been any spectacular.
The problem did not start with Cardinale, neither did it begin with Allegri, it has always been our peculiar problem, but we only look at the coach all the time.
Last year I wrote a piece stating that the true revolution should begin from the Milan lab, physios, mental coaches, conditioning and fitness coaches before we can address the tactical coaching aspect.
You will see good players come to milan and become so average, fitness level regression, poor match conditioning and in the event of any injury, just be rest assured that there’s a high chance of that injury reoccurring as proper treatment will not be done, and all these will definitely affect the stats put out.
However, I must say that I was so confident we will sign Tevez as it was a no brainer only for us because of our legendary infallible Galliani refusing to add I think about 500 thousand to pull the deal through only for us to settle for Matri, I was damn devastated and I don’t think I will ever forgive them for that.
The people who love milan and made it as prestigious as it was failed to set precedence on how the club would be effectively run, with a workable blueprint on transfers and financial strategies in use by the club which the new owners would have maybe simply adopted for implementation, instead, they have to develop one which has led to trials and errors, betrayals and negligence of duties.
The new owners are not entirely to blame for this rot going on in milan.
Bacca was a good signing.
Should’ve been at the club for 5 years at least. But the club got bored with him.
17/18 was the disastrous summer where the club signed over 10 players including two strikers (Kalinić and Silva).
Cutrone broke into the team and outscored them both. So the club tried to replace Cutrone with Higuain. And Cutrone outscored Higuain. So the club threw Piatek at the problem (the problem being a cheeky youth player who kept outscoring all of these signings).
That eventually broke Cutrone. He could then be loaned and sold, and now he finds himself at his 8th club at just 28.
The problem is, Milan is not a serious club. If you want a 15 to 20 goal scorer, you have to PAY for it. They are always looking for deals and discounts. They missed out on Thuram, missed out on hojlund and other names for the same reasons. They need to figure out if they are a selling club or a club that wants to compete.
Yes, but Milan did pay, just for a guy that was injured and didn’t play 2 years. 40M€ + 11.5M€ per season (gross) salary. Hojlund costs less and has half the salary of Nkunku. Thuram was free. And so on…
It is not about the strikers but how the play, how system of they play the games…
Milan’s policy in attack has been “bandaid solutions’ for years. YEARS! The funny thing now is that even with more money available to spend, the wrong people are spending in and on the wrong targets, like Nkunku. No statement purchases to build around.
Lottery purchases and scratch tickets… Zlatan back, Giroud in… Santi… Nkunku… Now we’re talking Lewa… on and on.
I mean for the money of Jashari, Ricci and Nkunku you can maybe even buy Julian Alvarez, that is 110M spent on players that are not playing, Ricci played most. Bondo and/or Terraciano would be good enough backups if we look at what Ricci or Jashari did. And Jovic. All free. None of the signings is doing better than these guys would.
Because Bacca was the last striker that played regularly that had decent pace. They never learn.
Leao & Pulisic dont count, theyre wingers