Milan fans were anxious to see how their team would perform in the opening match of the Serie A calendar, but will have more questions than answers despite an invaluable win against Torino.
Carlos Bacca was on fine form, reminiscent of last year’s campaign when he ruthlessly buried almost each chance that came his way. Milan’s defense always appeared to want the match to become a spectacle, though, and let Torino back in the game at a time when it seemed the Rossoneri could have pulled clear.
What ensued was a pulsating end to what would have been a thrilling match for the neutrals and stressful watching for fans of either team.
It took Gianluigi Donnarumma to save a stoppage time penalty to protect Milan’s victory with a 3-2 win, drawing a roar from the 30,000+ strong San Siro faithful, even though they would probably have been enraged just moments before.
Milan’s ownership issues
The truth is that Milan almost threw the victory away, and there’s plenty of cause for introspection. Despite the holes in the squad being all too clear last year, the club still didn’t move to address the issue to bring reinforcements in those positions.
There’s been a sea of confusion all summer because of the takeover talks with the Chinese conglomerate.
Sometimes it would appear that Milan would have 100 million to spend, but later it would be reported that they had no funds whatsoever.
Fininvest (Milan’s holding company) stated that they had no intention of spending money in the transfer market, only for the Rossoneri’s eccentric owner to loosen his purse strings to sign Gianluca Lapadula, Gustavo Gomez and Jose Sosa for a combined fee of around €26 million.
Now all three of the aforementioned footballers are more than decent players, even if not world renown footballers, but the question really is whether their signings are the ones Milan urgently needed?
The Deficiencies in Milan’s squad
Riccardo Montolivo has been one of the most disappointing players in recent times and it couldn’t possibly have been more obvious that Milan need a dynamic central midfielder who has great passing range.
Montolivo’s constant errors and sloppiness in midfield often costs the 7-time European Champions, and it wasn’t any different against Torino.
Milan have unsuccessfully pursued Milan Badelj and Rodrigo Bentacur, with Adriano Galliani recently confirming coach Vincenzo Montella has asked for an alternative to Montolivo. The club’s failure to land a replacement player is clearly a failure.
They are also pursuing Leandro Paredes, the Roma player who might just be the perfect recruit, but Milan are only interested to bring him on loan - a deal that Roma were never interested in and now he might have been taken off the market.
Why the money was spent on the 3 players the club has signed, that weren’t as much of a priority as a central midfielder, is mind boggling.
Additionally, Suso remains the only pacy option to play as a right winger in Montella’s 4-3-3. The former Liverpool player has huge potential for growth but is still relatively raw, and Keisuke Honda has never really settled in Italy, meaning Milan don’t have another right winger in their squad.
Montella had asked for Chelsea’s Juan Cuadrado, but that is also a signing Milan have failed to deliver.
Against Torino, Suso drifted in and out of the game, and having a top player in that position would have made Milan’s attack much more lethal, but Montella had no choice but to let him complete the 90 minutes.
Players available Milan could still target
The transfer market has less than 10 days now, and Adriano Galliani really needs to get to work. He complained that any transfer has to have the approval from Fininvest and then the Chinese conglomerate, as well as the coach, but that’s not an excuse for him not to close deals.
Anwar El Ghazi and Joao Moutinho have reportedly been offered to Milan recently, and would strengthen the squad. The club will still pursue Paredes, but need to make a good offer to even force Roma to consider selling the 22-year-old Argentine.
Alejandro Gomez, the Atlanta winger could also be an option for the right wing.
Milan need to move quickly to secure at least a couple of high-quality signings, otherwise, they risk another season of mediocrity and the further ire of fans already losing patience with their poorly run club.
The Chinese conglomerate are optimistic about the future, and have often talked about their plans to rebuild and reinvigorate the prestigious club , and the time for them to begin is now.
