AC Milan are willing to offload multiple players this summer, but it appears Alexis Saelemaekers is not part of that list.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, Coaches change, the needs of squads change, the players’ CVs change and, perhaps, even the collective perception changes. When Alexis Saelemaekers was loaned to Roma last summer, Milan simply considered him surplus to requirements.
He was a player to be sent elsewhere, although the narrative about the Belgian winger had been very different over the summer. Paulo Fonseca had publicly praised him and seemed to want to keep him, yet he went to Roma in a dry loan swap with Tammy Abraham.
Now, Saelemaekers has an excellent chance of being the only player returning from various loans capable of staying at Milanello. What has changed in a year? Not much, apart from obviously 12 months of additional experience in another high-pressure environment.
The Belgian was (and remains) a serious, reliable player, devoted to the cause, particularly applied in the tactical sphere and sensationally flexible. It sounds like exactly what Massimiliano Allegri would like, therefore.
A rough road
In the last two years, Milan have preferred to sign other players to play on the flanks. The likes of Samuel Chukwueze, Noah Okafor, Riccardo Sottil and (sometimes) Yunus Musah have played out wide but didn’t work, for various reasons.
This is why Saelemaekers is back in fashion. He may be less imaginative than Chukwueze or Okafor, but certainly more consistent and also capable of contributing, as his seven goals and seven assists with Roma show.
After the first season on loan at Bologna, everything seemed ready for him to go there permanently. Then, Thiago Motta gave way to Vincenzo Italiano and the practically certain permanence turned into a ‘thank you and goodbye’.
Then, of course, the second loan in Rome, this time on dry loan. There was a lot of talk about a possible permanent transfer to the Giallorossi – Milan were asking for around €20m – but things then cooled down.
Both of Alexis’ loan adventures were more than positive, however, something that evidently did not escape Allegri’s attention.
A new (old) role
Max is definitely interested in the Belgian’s profile and, even if there is no certainty of his permanence at the moment, the coach will be keeping a close eye on Alexis starting from July 4th, the day of the meeting at Milanello.
The idea could be to use him as a right-back, a role that is lacking after the end of Kyle Walker’s loan, Alessandro Florenzi’s farewell, plus an Emerson Royal who could pack his bags and in any case doesn’t offer great guarantees.
In practice, for Saelemaekers it would be a return to his origins: Milan bought him from Anderlecht in January 2020 with the intention of using him in that role. Only later did Alexis carve out an important space for himself as a winger.
In short, it would be necessary to return to his old role, after having done practically everything. So far, Salemaekers has played as a left and right winger, a left and right wing-back, as a second striker, an attacking midfielder and at full-back too. The gift of ubiquity is ultimately useful to any coach.