This summer, AC Milan are not the only club undergoing a renovation of sorts, and the club in question, Napoli, are eyeing up a Rossoneri midfielder as they look to complete their squad.
In his debut Serie A season, Yunus Musah struggled a lot, but placing the blame on him for this is quite wrong. When the American was given chances, it was rarely in a set position and towards the end of the season, he became a guinea pig of sorts.
With Stefano Pioli’s future written, and the Rossoneri’s season finished, experimentation took place with the defence and midfield, and on several occasions, Musah was trialled at wing-back, and even as a facilitating midfielder for Davide Calabria to invert.
Today, according to a report from La Repubblica (via Milan News), the Partenopei have taken an interest in the midfielder, and Antonio Conte views the youngster as a great profile to help strengthen his midfield.
Given Conte was in the runnings for the Milan job at one stage, it would not come as a surprise if the interest in Musah has arisen from his plans for the Diavolo squad, should he have gotten the job.
However, reports from earlier in the summer suggested that the American was one of only three midfielders who were ‘guaranteed’ to be at the club at the start of the season, and given he fits the profile of what Fonseca wants in his midfield, there should not be any worries.
I like Musah. He needs to play and develop more. I would love a loan at Napoli under Conte, but I wouldn’t sell him.
Interesting that in the same article we get that Musah is out of favor and one of the only 3 midfielders with a guaranteed spot.
But even more interesting is that after so many experts in here say that Musah is not good now we get information that the coach that most of those experts wanted Milan to hire ( because he isn’t a “yes man” and he chooses the players,
not the management) wants that same Musah on his team.
Musah under a proper coach and defined position will be a very good player. Unfortunately for him he had neither at Milan in his 1st season at the club.
Hopefully he’ll have that under the new coach.
People have short memories. Musah had a better season at the same age as tonali first season. I suspect he will have a chance to start from day one alongside fofana with reijnders in the midfield. New coach loves guys who win tackles in the middle third and turns them into counters, hence why he likes Emerson royal who is good at the same thing. Turning defense into offense…also allows Theo to push up high with two solid defenders in the middle alongside the cb
“People have short memories. Musah had a better season at the same age as tonali first season.”
Dunno about that. Flaschscore had Musah’s last season at 6.7 while Tonali’s first season with us was rated 6.8. But aside from that Tonali was seen as a good prospect in Bescia having had 2 good seasons there, but was just too shy in 2020/21. The only thing Musah showed in Valencia is that nobody knows where’s supposed to field him. Some thaught he was Kessie’s replacement, other thaught he was a CM, a CDM, an AM and Pioli thaught he was a RB/RM.
Maybe he’ll do better this season, but honestly if we get Fofana and Napoli offers good money, I’ll more than willing to listen.
You develop him and he will surpass Kessie. He’s fast, direct and physical. Just needs to mature and improve in decision-making.
Agree here 💯 and would add he carries the ball better than Kessie.
I hope we keep him and develop him
And then what? Sell him to the highest bidder to balance the books?
Musah is a good prospect…He had 5 coaches in 3 years at Valencia, Gattuso arrived and is on record with his feelings about him and Kessie. There are techniques that you either have at that age or you don’t, and he has a lot of your modern 8 foundationals, specifically scanning on offense and timing and positioning on defense. I’m not sure what flaschscore is but by the opta stats, Musah did everything better: defense, passing, dribbling, assists, the works. Regardless, let’s say they played equally well. I’m just noting it would have been shortsighted to sell Tonali…
You impressed me. You really know what it takes to have a strong Midfield. Musa & Fofana at the double pivot, Reijnders up as an attacking midfielder, Loftus Cheek is too slow he can’t replicate what he did the previous season. I thank you for this post, because, most people doesn’t know this. In fact you said my mind
👍
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Musah needs to work on his defensive positioning and end product. He’s still young, so there’s time. A loan where he could play every week would be very beneficial.
Musah definitely feels like a conte type player and we should not lose him to conte
Kante won conte a champions league…he knows the value of a guy who can win tackles and start counters in a press.
When did Conte win a Champions League??
I hope Milan won’t sell him. Better dry loan. I still believe he has a good potential and surely he is better than such as Pobega (which unfortunately Milan still need for academy slot). I am surprised that some ppl hope young players like Musah to be directly perform well in their 1st season. Not every player like Musiala or Yamal. Some are late bloomers. In my opinion, Musah had bad season because of how Pioli deployed him.
I like Musah a lot — he mainly needs to work on defensive positioning and his speed/range of passing. With a clear role, I think he could be a beast in midfield. He’s a lockdown defender and extremely press-resistant dribbler, so strong, really good at shutting down counterattacks, too. I think he’d be great in a pivot with somebody more experienced helping guide his positioning. He had a great start to the season last year, if folks recall, when he had a solid run of games and a steady role. At the same time, I feel like midfielders should match the way the coach wants them to play. I don’t know what Fonseca has in mind for him and if he’s not going to develop by getting time with Fonseca, he should move somewhere else (preferably on loan, but sale could be OK).
The only bad buy last season. He has no tactical intelligence.
I think Fonseca will use him a lot more. He likes muscle in midfield, tireless players like Fofana and I do think he’ll find the right role for him.
I said many times before this kid has it all to become the new N’golo Kante but needs someone to mentor him in that role.
^You and I agree on something! There’s hope for humanity!
Musah should be given time to develop, whether he make sit or not is another thing. What is certain is you don’t waste 20m on a young player and then ship them out after 1 year.
Saying that, Bennacer is a better player who is ready to play, so if it is a choice between them, sell Musah.
I’d hope we have a good DM signed with Reijnders and Bennacer to play either side, backed up by Adli, Musah and RLC