Journalist Andrea Longoni has criticised AC Milan’s pursuit of a striker in the last few days of the window, claiming that it was ‘poorly managed’.
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Milan went into the final part of the window just looking for a centre-forward to make it 10 signings for the summer and to complete the attacking department, but it ended up being a real rollercoaster.
It looked as though a deal for Mehdi Taremi had been agreed both with the player and with his club Porto but in the end things fell apart, with the cause of the the breakdown still being disputed among journalists.
Luka Jovic came on an initial one-year deal with barely any time left in the window, which has been met with a mixed reaction. Speaking in a column for MilanNews, Longoni revealed his belief that Milan panicked.
“We certainly weren’t bored. There were 3 phases. The first: the sale of Tonali and the sense of confusion. The second: the numerous quality purchases, which brought enthusiasm to the stars. And then the last few days, which lowered the overall rating,” he began.
“Objectively, the search for number 9 was poorly managed. It’s true that at the base there were some incorrect behaviours from Porto and Taremi’s entourage, but there are many buts.
“It was necessary to have a plan B, especially given the first controversial signs in the negotiations for the Iranian, which emerged on Wednesday.
“From that moment on the management was in too much difficulty, with a desperate and frantic search for a replacement, which ended with a plan D, or a plan E. From En-Nesyri, we moved on to Pavlidis, then Daka, then Rafa Mir, to close with Jovic.
“It’s a shame to end like this: today we are at the usual point and that is that after Giroud there is a void. The paradox is that Milan has 3 high-level players for the role of left winger (Leao, Pulisic, Okafor), while as number 9, in fact, it is to be hoped that the Frenchman never catches a cold.
“This went too far: error of assessment, because the central striker was a priority. Jovic is a big question mark, Milan needed an exclamation point. Well, let’s face it, the pre-break victory against Roma overshadows this too.”
