AC Milan have struggled for big numbers from their starting centre-forward for a number of seasons it feels like, but one statistic has laid bare how bad the issue is.
As MilanNews report, Milan have been missing a striker who guarantees a big number of goals for some time. Things have improved slightly since the arrival of Olivier Giroud, who has scored some big goals but is certainly not somebody who can be relied upon to hit 25-30 per season.
In fact, in the last 20 seasons Milan have had only two players who have broken through the wall of 20 goals in the league in an individual campaign. The first is Andriy Shevchenko who netted 24 times in 2003-04, and the other is Zlatan Ibrahimovic who scored 28 in 2011-12.
Despite the arrival of names like Carlos Bacca, Andre Silva, Gonzalo Higuain, Krzysztof Piatek and others who were meant to address the issue, Milan remain without a prolific No.9 and this must be addressed in the summer.
It was much more balanced when Shevchenko was playing since Milan had several forwards able to score on a regular basis. Inzaghi, Kakà, Tomasson, even Gilardino.
What a mistake not to sign Dybala or Belotti last offseason. These guys are starting-caliber forwards when Origi is a sub, as should be Giroud at this stage of his career.