Mike Maignan’s future has become the subject of speculation in the media and among the AC Milan fan base, but selling him this summer would mean ignoring some internal hints.
As MilanNews writes, it was an emotional evening on Saturday at San Siro with Milan greeting three protagonists from the 2021-22 Scudetto season saying goodbye in defender Simon Kjaer, striker Olivier Giroud and coach Stefano Pioli.
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It was farewell party that began before the match against Salernitana, continued during and ended afterwards with words in the middle of the field of those directly involved.
Both Pioli and Giroud spoke to Sky and gave their last interviews as coach and player. When asked who could be the future leader of Milan, both of them agreed.
Pioli responded as follows: “Milan is losing depth but the guys who are here have grown. In terms of impact, I think Maignan can be a point of reference for the dressing room.”
Giroud echoed his sentiments: “I see players like Mike [Maignan] doing it well. He has personality, for me he must continue to be the leader on and off the pitch.”
Even Antonio Mirante – who was in the same department and is also departing – reinforced their words in an interview with Radio Serie A.
“Mike is an incredible professional, a total goalkeeper who is destined to improve even further in the coming years. His charisma can be felt just by looking at him in the dressing room you know he’s there, he conveys certainty and this quality is essential for his role.”
These are words not to be underestimated. In the last two years, Milan have lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic (now part of the club, but in a corporate role), Giroud, Kjaer and Pioli among others. The big cornerstones of the team have disappeared.
To build a winning team, it is absolutely necessary to replenish the leadership department. With the possible sale of Maignan – or even a player like Theo Hernandez – the impact of losing charismatic and experiences players who are well respected in the squad must be fully evaluated.
He should be sold
Overpaid, inconsistent, constantly injured, mentally weak drama queen, asks for higher salary that he doesn’t deserve
Goalkeeper is the easiest position to replace
Point of reference would mean being injured less often. That would be a great starting reference point.
keep Theo and do not give a keeper that salary….will destroy the structure
In other news , I heard Maignan injured himself taking a nap…
So we have a professional Scudetto-winning coach, a professional goalkeeper and a World Cup winner saying we should keep Maignan but everybody here wants to get rid of him? Alright.
Maybe we should wait the Euro and see if we can fix our problem with injuries, considering he was never injured (only once if I remember well) before coming in Milan. When his name is announced at San Siro, you can tell he’s one of the favorite players of the crowd. When I see Mirante or Nava play against Salernitana, or even Dollarumma with PSG, I think that Mike is clearly one of the best GK in the world. And one of the greatest leaders of this team.
Pioli is a fraud, Serie B-level manager
Giroud was not key to France winning WC and of course he will shill his teammate
Mirante is a nobody
And who are you?
A fan with a brain, unlike you
You won’t even be able to do half what those guy have done. But then again, it’s all just opinions and it doesn’t have to count.. rest abeg
Sportiello is a really good keeper. Mirante is gone and retired.
I get your call to keep Mike, but perhaps it’s time we consider offers, because there is a chance it may not work out.
Nobody (at least most of the fans) are not disputing how great Mike Maignan is/was, but you have to consider the following:
– He is injury prone. And I don’t think it’s the same as the other players because he is a goalkeeper, he is not impacted by sprints, tackles,… No matter how good a player is, he is only useful when not injured, and Maignan gets injured quite often every single season.
– His demands (8M per year) are way past our cap and too high for a goalkeeper no matter how good he is. Even if we don’t sell him this summer, failing to renew to him means we’re gonna lose him anyways. And in this case, let’s at least try to cash on his departure.
– The goalkeeper is generally the easiest to replace. We don’t necessarly need a world-class goalkeeper for now (heck FC Barcelona dominated Europe in 2009-2011 with Victor Valdès !). Also selling him for 40M or more would allow us to have a bigger budget in the summer.
This is a really thorny, complex situation, full of nuances to be considered.
First of all, the following issue needs to be made very clear: no, it is NOT easy to replace a top goalkeeper. Quite the opposite, in fact. Even more so when it comes to a goalkeeper not only gifted with great tactical awarenes, but also capable of organizing the defense.
Secondly, we must take into account the fact that Maignan is one of the few experienced players with leadership skills within a very young squad. This is a very important asset and can in no way be disregarded.
Now, all this said and put, there is no way to ignore the glaringly obvious fact: he is perhaps the most injury prone goalkeeper we have ever seen, at least in the last few decades within top flight football. With all the serious problems that such a circumstance entails. As has already been said here: the first and main capability is availability.
In short: It’s not exactly the easiest decision to make.
Maignan is not a top goalkeeper, he is heavily overrated and fans are fooled by his charisma
Goalkeeper is the easiest position to replace, and what you want in that spot is not necessarily someone who is great but you want somebody consistent and reliable who doesn’t get injured
Theo is the unreplaceable one, not Maignan
Period
Sorry, but what does a goal keeper with great tactical awareness mean?
How much more bs can people take. First and foremost, can he stop shots on goal? From what we’ve seen so far, very mediocre compared to the average serie a level.
He’s the sensitive delicate type, and a great keeper sometimes.
He’s a great keeper, but there are too many injury issues. We need to sell him, and proceed with a different acquirement. And Sportiello still has looked really good when he did play too.
Mike will left. There’s no reason to stay at Milan anymore, especially when the fans doesn’t appreciate his skills or contribution anymore. Just look at little kid capcelotti comment above who said Mike is overrated.
A keeper should always be a shot stopper first. Everything comes after including footwork
Amen
I just don’t think he’s one of the top coaches in the world, nor in serie a. Average shot stopper at best.