AC Milan have drawn some mixed reviews for the summer transfer window they conducted, with some big gaps not filled.
In the end, Milan spent €159m on new signings (as per Transfermarkt) with Ardon Jashari, Christopher Nkunku, Samuele Ricci and Koni De Winter being the main names. They almost made as much in sales too, with Tijjani Reijnders, Malick Thiaw and Theo Hernandez all leaving.
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Newspaper ratings
As they do after every window, Corriere dello Sport (via MilanPress) gave the various teams their grades for the summer transfer window, and the Rossoneri earned a 6.5 out of 10 score.
This rating comes thanks to some interesting acquisitions including Modric, Nkunku and Ricci but above all Rabiot, the last arrival and a long-time favorite of Max Allegri. The Roman newspaper however also recalls the sale of Reijnders, a tough sale for a major club like Milan.
Today’s edition of Tuttosport points out that Milan attempted to sign several players, like Allegri’s dream Vlahovic, but the move immediately presented obstacles that proved insurmountable.
The Diavolo then targeted Rasmus Hojlund, but there was a formula issue with Manchester United and the player. Then there were the soap operas of Victor Boniface – who was dropped after failing a medical – and Conrad Harder who was never convinced by the project.
The last real opportunity was Artem Dovbyk, but even then no agreement was reached, and the only attacking player Milan signed was Christopher Nkunku, who isn’t exactly a centre-forward. The Turin paper focus on the striker saga, and judge the window negatively as a result.
Went from seeming like we had a plan, to being obvious there was a shell of an idea of a plan… End of the day, only real issue addressed is midfield with modric jashari and Ricci. Thats it… we are now somehow weaker in the striker department than before, we have 1 RB and a RW playing there, 1 true LB, and didnt bring in any experienced defender for the back line. The fact we wasted our deadline day brining in a washed midfielder like rabiot instead of focusing on a position we actually needed is laughable. Now just have to pray we work a miracle until at least January…if Allegri even makes it that long
Yeh pretty much agree with this – 6.5 is too generous imo when we failed to land a quality #9 and our starting backline is still Pavlo Gabbia and Tomori… Let’s see if de Winter can step up but something tells me I’m going to be watching this season from behind the couch again …
Nkunku is the backup for Leao, just like Salad is the backup for Pulisic. Gimenez is the only CF, he has no deputy nor competition.
You’ll see Leao as a 9 – he’s best when he’s furthest up the pitch. He can be a holding 9 or run by defenders. A front line of Pulisic Leao and Nkunku ( in a 4-3-3) or rotating 2 strikers from those 3, (in a 3-5-2), coupled with probably the strongest midfield in Serie A, should be enough to be top 4. Santi simply doesn’t fit Allegri’s system. He’s too slow.
Dodged a bullet with Harder. He won’t become a top player.