There was no late movement to AC Milan in the winter window, at least related to the first team, so the defence remained unchanged.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), the Milan directors made their evaluations together with the head coach Massimiliano Allegri, and in the end the club preferred to keep the current group of central defenders in the squad.
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Matteo Gabbia, Fikayo Tomori and Strahinja Pavlovic will remain the starting trio of a defensive group that have conceded 17 goals in the league so far (only Roma and Como have conceded fewer). Alongside them, Koni De Winter is growing, and is likely to start again this evening in Bologna.
Given the former Genoa defender’s excellent performances, the Rossoneri have chosen not to make any further signings. Chelsea’s Frenchman Axel Disasi was who was for a time considered a potential reinforcement for the rearguard before joining West Ham.
Instead, everything remains as it is and trust has been confirmed even in the younger players. Davide Bartesaghi is now a regular starter and can be used in the three-man defence, while Davide Odogu – who has only made one appearance in Serie A – was not loaned out.
The biggest certainty in the defence remains Mike Maignan, the captain who a few days ago renewed his contract with the club until 2031.
Disasi is a bum. Gila would have been a fantastic addition now but even in the summer it’s a good one. Outside of that not really any worthy names were mentioned.
If they want to improve defense they need to go for game changers. But this management has shown that such players are outside of our budget, so next season in CL is anyone’s guess. We’ll get roasted and toasted, but hey – we participate!
I disagree wholeheartedly. You’re being overly hyperbolic acting like this team that is averaging somewhere around 2.3 points per game is garbage!? Yes to beat RM you need to have players of that quality. However it’s not realistic for any team out side of RM PSG or the PL clubs to absorb 200M in players purchasing outlays in a single season. Also your impression that Milan doesn’t spend is at this point a truly outlandish take. Theres years of evidence that Milan are consistently amongst the top spenders in the league and among the clubs in the other big 5 leagues. Pioli got a team that was in my opinion poorer in quality to the semis.
Agreed. We wont against Real Madrid last season with a crocked Theo and Emerson Royal as our fullbacks.
Quality is needed, but you ain’t going to bring in Quality in the Winter Mercato. I’d rather we save our money for the Summer when players actually want to switch clubs.
Nobody established would want to change clubs in the middle of the season with World Cup looming in 5 months.
40 on Nkunku and 35 on Santi VS 75 on the likes of Sesko or Gyokeres? Which would be more palpable?
The problem isn’t that they aren’t spending. The problem is the people who spend are whole heartedly incompetent at it. When was the last time we brought in a game changer? Real quality?
You feel confident our CB’s are ready for CL??? Because I don’t. And watching Gabbia get outplayed by Colombo or watching Tomori make a rash challenge after rash challenge or watching Barte make rookie mistakes sure reaffirms my lack of confidence.
Our points average isn’t because we’re playing stellar attacking football and our CB’s are world class and limiting opposition to nothing. It is because we are extremely defensive in our approach with practically everyone behind the ball. And we can’t even counterattack because everyone is either unfit or poor at receiving the ball with their back to goal.
So tell me how you’re confident.
There are very obvious gaps in this team which may be sufficient for a Top4 finish this season but its nowhere ready for two comps next season especially in CL.
I hope Milan will be recruit Luka Vuskovic from Tottenham Hotspur. He can be CB worldclass i think.