Summer mercato 2024

[Beppe]

I always liked Colombo, i hope we keep our hands on him if we decide to loan him out again. Rumours say empoli secured a buy option, i hope we at least get a buy back option

[nefremo]

Colombo is a decent player. But he is not better than Morata (nowhere near) and he can't start for Milan currently. At the same time, it would be disastrous for him to spend a year on the bench. A striker needs to play, score goals and keep up the confidence. So with that said, for some youngsters, it makes sense to develop in Milan Futuro, for some to spend a year in Serie B or Belgium/Switzerland for example, and for some a loan to Serie A is the best. I think Colombo falls in that last category. He needs to play in Serie A, play regularly and score goals. At 22 and to be 23 by season's end, he needs to establish himself in the league. He's been loaned out for several years now and he's yet to do that.

2023/24 with Monza: started the season well as a starter, but lost his place as the year went on. He ended up finishing the season with 16 starts, 9 sub appearances and 13 times on the bench. Scored only 4 goals.

2022/23 with Lecce: similar story. 18 starts, 15 subs, 4 bench. Scored 5 goals.

2021/22 with SPAL in Serie B: lost his starting spot midway through the year, ended up with 6 goals.

Don't be swayed by him scoring 2 goals against a literally 3rd string City team. About 80% of the City players we saw last night will not get a single minute for them in official competition. I am not saying this because I think Colombo is not good enough. On the contrary, I think ue is the most ready out of our young players. But he won't get much game time if he stays, and he needs to play. Hopefully this time around, it'll be a loan to a club where he'll be a starter throughout the season and where he can finally "explode" and score double digit goals.

[honsano]

Colombo scores screamers then he is quiet. Doesn't really contribute much to the overall play (his misplaced back pass led to the Florenzi challenge/injury). We should treat him like Colombo and try to find a buyer for him in EPL before he goes quiet again.

Again, I was so impressed by our GK Torriano last night. I'm not sure if he can save a shot, but he played better with the ball at his feet than our defenders. If we can keep Mike a bit longer, this kid may be a future GK for us.

I really wonder if RLC has a role in this team going forward. He has a big frame and is good in tight spaces. He should be made for this play but with the two mids sitting above the defense (he is poor defensively) and the other mid playing at the top (he is poor with vision in the final third) this will be tough for him to fit in.

[reza]

Colombo is 22 and will be his 5th loan if he goes this season. Most important is to make an overall assessment. A loan might be better than the bench but he has to spend more time at Milanello than SPAL or whoever training. This is probably why primavera is so disconnected to the senior team, loan for minutes is ok but "in house" training/assessment is even more important imo.

[Sleeping Giant]

Colombo scores screamers then he is quiet. Doesn't really contribute much to the overall play (his misplaced back pass led to the Florenzi challenge/injury). We should treat him like Colombo and try to find a buyer for him in EPL before he goes quiet again.

Again, I was so impressed by our GK Torriano last night. I'm not sure if he can save a shot, but he played better with the ball at his feet than our defenders. If we can keep Mike a bit longer, this kid may be a future GK for us.

I really wonder if RLC has a role in this team going forward. He has a big frame and is good in tight spaces. He should be made for this play but with the two mids sitting above the defense (he is poor defensively) and the other mid playing at the top (he is poor with vision in the final third) this will be tough for him to fit in.

It is not very easy to score goals for a weak side sourrounded by avg players and a bad and unstable coach(es) that too for a young player in Italy. He must be given a atleast 6 month chance as Morata back up and then sell or loan him in January. A real chance with good players and a good coach is what requires imo.

[nefremo]

Colombo is 22 and will be his 5th loan if he goes this season. Most important is to make an overall assessment. A loan might be better than the bench but he has to spend more time at Milanello than SPAL or whoever training. This is probably why primavera is so disconnected to the senior team, loan for minutes is ok but "in house" training/assessment is even more important imo.

I agree. It's a fine line and one that may work for 1 player and not for another. Either way, I think we've come to crossroads with Colombo. Everyone can probably agree he currently can not be Milan's starting CF. So now you start exploring those other scenarios, such as, is it more beneficial for him to stay and train at Milan, get some games...or is it better for him to go on loan where training might be different (worse) but he'd actually play 35 games in Serie A? 

Age has to be a factor here. Im, at 22, he simply has to play. Guys like Liberali, Camarda and Zeroli, ok. By all means, they need to stay here and we need to develop them. Imo, that's worth way more than them playing 20 games for SPAL. So its nice that they can train here but actually play with Milan Futuro. 

But for Colombo at 22, I think a loan (to Serie A) is the only option. And then next summer, it's literally an easy decision. Either he stays and is used in whatever role he is good for (I assume rotation/backup) or he is sold. No more loans at that point. Just choose a path forward. One way or another. 

Another thing is that we as fans always focus on our youth players expecting them to be starters. For them to be a large part of our future. A Maldini, Albertini, Baresi, etc. And if not, we just wanna sell. But in truth, we need to utilize our youth system for many ways. If Colombo grows to be a decent back up striker for us, that's already better than going to the transfer market and spending millions for a back up. And then obviously, we have to find a way to monetize our youth players if they are not good enough to be backups (or if simply they don't want to be backups). We have to find ways to sell them at the right time, preferably before they go out on 3 loans and fall into obscurity.

[nefremo]

It is not very easy to score goals for a weak side sourrounded by avg players and a bad and unstable coach(es) that too for a young player in Italy. He must be given a atleast 6 month chance as Morata back up and then sell or loan him in January. A real chance with good players and a good coach is what requires imo.

But this is the difficulty at clubs like Milan. There is no patience. And it comes, first and foremost, from the fans and the media. Pressure mounts. I personally would not be comfortable starting the season with Colombo as Morata's main back up.

[Leoni9900]

Milan send formal offer of 17 million to Monaco for Fofana. They are unsurprisingly expected to swiftly reject the offer. Manu Kone could become our top target as Furlani is “bewitched” by him. Borussia Monchengladbach want 30 million for Kone.

[Santino]

Fabrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
??⚫️ Strahinja Pavlović to AC Milan, here we go! Deal in place for Serbian centre back joining from Salzburg.

Long term deal agreed days ago as he strongly wanted to join AC Milan.

Package worth more than €18m, to be clarified soon.
If true, its a steal....

[nefremo]

Reports also of Emerson Royal being practically wrapped up as well. So we should see both Pavlovič and Royal official within the next day or two.

That effectively completes the defensive line. Although I'm not entirely sure what the plan for a "vice Theo" is. Maybe Jimenez? Also, it'll be interesting to see what happens with Thiaw and if we really end up selling him. Which would definitely mean that we'll need another CB.