When Igli Tare sat behind his desk inside Casa Milan for the first time, he was greeted by a big to-do list that he will continue working through.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write how it is easy to imagine how his office looks: scattered sheets of paper, notes, a computer full of emails and reports and a long list of meetings scheduled. Nonetheless, Tare immersed himself in the world of Milan with enthusiasm, and professional passion.
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The amount of work to do is decidedly large, not that he was surprised. The Albanian had already imagined finding himself in these conditions, for the simple reason that his position had been vacant for a while. The head coach issue is sorted with Allegri’s return secured, so what is left on his agenda?
Clarity sought
Before entering the realm of signings, a lot of clarity is needed. First of all with Allegri, to understand the coach’s needs, based on the formation he plans to use (the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 most likely) and perhaps some particular preferences he has.
Net of the strategies to strengthen a squad that could find itself without two key players in Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders, we first need to understand who really wants to stay and who really wants to renew.
If Hernandez more or less already has one foot out of Milanello, the real issue concerns Mike Maignan first and Christian Pulisic second. In recent months it seemed that both were close to white smoke, then the major complications of the second part of the season have called everything into question.
The future of the two pillars needs to be clarified quickly, because otherwise Milan’s summer of 2025 could risk not only being one of fine-tuning, but of revolution. Among Tare’s first conversations, therefore, will be those with those whose contractual aspects need to be clarified.
Necessities
As for future new faces, it is still too early to commit to specific names. Certainly, in the event that Hernandez and Reijnders leave, a left-back and a midfielder will obviously be needed, both starters and of a high level.
In defence, the arrival of a new center back is practically a given because one between Malick Thiaw and Fikayo Tomori will say goodbye, and a right-back will also be required.
Up front, a very careful evaluation will be needed on the path Francesco Camarda will take. With Tammy Abraham returning to Rome and with Luka Jovic’s deal set to expire another centre-forward will be needed to rotate with Santiago Gimenez.
Finally, the largest file: that of the loans. Kyle Walker and Joao Felix’s Rossoneri adventures end here, while Riccardo Sottil is still to be evaluated. Noah Okafor, Ismael Bennacer, Alexis Saelemaekers, Yacine Adli, Tommaso Pobega, Lorenzo Colombo and Kevin Zeroli will all return.
Broadly speaking, very few of them will remain at Milan. Also because without any European competition, the squad can be smaller.
It’s worth remembering that we only have one game a week next season (unless it’s tin cup week which I’d happily get knocked out of in the first match) – in theory fresh legs every weekend.
If we sell most of the loanees, Reijnders and Theo (not because I want to but because it’s happening) a centre back, Royal, Musah and RLC, then bring Saelemaekers and Zeroli back, we can invest good money into Ricci, Leoni or Coppola, fullbacks and a proper CAM.
10-12 out, 2 return, 5 in, net zero or there abouts.
The most important thing is the coach and the management needs to properly assess the just concluded season, and understand where to improve, but the main thing with modern football we need a squad of at least 25 players, we need to start building the homegrown and Italian quota, and we need a squad that could be rotated during the season, let us take advantage of the spare time we have to build a team for the future, a team that will land in the UCL in 2026 battle hardened, we need to hit the ground running, and push the players hard, giving the subs alot of playing time, let’s rotate 2 line ups during the serie’a season and cup, that way we have a very strong team for next season..