Franco Ordine has claimed that the 2023 summer transfer window was never expected to complete the AC Milan squad but rather was the first step in a ‘restructuring’.
There were 10 new additions during the summer window, starting with the attacking department where Luka Jovic, Christian Pulisic, Samuel Chukwueze and Noah Okafor all arrived. In midfield, Tijjani Reijnders, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Yunus Musah are helping to plug the gap left by Sandro Tonali’s exit.
Marco Sportiello proved himself to be a reliable deputy when called upon, while Luka Romero and Marco Pellegrino were signings for the future and must be handled with care. The squad underwent major upheaval, but will be further strengthened in the coming transfer windows.
Ordine spoke in a column for MilanNews about the upcoming January transfer window an the opportunity to fine tune certain departments after the swathe of new arrivals in July and August.
“I find what is being prepared for the next transfer market both in January and in the summer of 2024 very interesting. I find it interesting for a basic reason which is the following: last summer’s operation was not definitive from the point of view of the refoundation,” he said.
“It is only the beginning of a sort of technical ‘restructuring’ of Milan to correct some unshared choices of the past and to aim for the formula (sustainable football) inspired by Moncada (shared by Elliott and now by Redbird) and that is the search for young profiles capable of being valorised by the Italian league.
“The names already published by the various market specialists (Miranda of Betis, Kwior, Gabbia di return, Popovic (born in 2006), Ouèdrago (born in 2006) tell precisely about this plan which will have to be completed with the choice of a centre-forward.”