AC Milan want to believe in the Scudetto fight and the possibility of winning a trophy this season, so the management are looking at reinforcements to boost the squad.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) report this morning, Milan are looking for players that are young, ambitious, with a desire to join and with the ability to have an impact in Italy and Europe.
Aren’t they ready to make an immediate impact, as all coaches want from their January signings? Don’t they have the experience to arrive and handle everything calmly? The club are willing to take the risk.
Milan sees a way to stay in the Champions League zone, try to win a trophy and at the same time continue along the youth line, which has brought some disappointments (Charles De Ketelaere, Sergino Dest and Aster Vranckx above all) but also players like Pierre Kalulu and Malick Thiaw.
The January mercat will probably come into full swing next week for Milan, with three reinforcements expected. Another central defender is the guaranteed arrival, a full-back is definitely probable and for the third name it is a case of waiting for developments.
The second half of January may bring a striker, currently in the third row of priorities, and in midfield it is best not to get distracted. Rade Krunic is only virtually in the squad because he mentally abandoned Milan a few weeks ago, a surprising choice for someone considered – until December – to be a great professional. If an opportunity arises to replace him, the squad could expand.
However, the priority at the moment is Lilian Brassier, a central defender at Brest, who turned 24 years old in November and already has 51 games in his last year and a half in Ligue 1. He virtually always plays and Brest, also thanks to him, are in France fourth behind PSG, Nice and Monaco.
Milan llike him because he has qualities – physical and otherwise – and the potential grow. He is left-footed as desired, he can play in a three and a four-man defence too. The theme here is competition. Brest is asking for €10-12m for Brassier and will get it, from Milan or another club.
Monaco took the lead in December, Porto and Leverkusen made inquiries, PSG have just lost Skriniar – who could be out until the end of the season – and could make a bigger offer.
It is a complex pursuit, with two solutions: a transfer in January or June. Milan are still interested, either on a permanent basis or a loan with option to buy. Brassier is ready, it depends on what the best offer he receives will be.
Milan are not abandoning Clément Lenglet, their number 1 target in December. Of course, it is not easy to engineer a three-way deal with Aston Villa, to whom he was loaned in the summer, and Barcelona who are his parent club.
However, Milan continue to consider the Frenchman a very useful solution. Lenglet is not young but he would help out immediately and bring experience, but the Rossoneri certainly cannot pay his salary – around €7m net per season – and so a lot here depends on the player and on Barcelona.
We are talking about more affordable figures for Filippo Terracciano, the Verona wild card. Fiorentina are a serious competitor but Milan have met his agent and now it is up to Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada to decide whether to sink and submit an offer.
It feels like €6-7m would be enough and Terracciano is more than interested in making the jump to a big club. Milan, if they accelerated, would be the logical favourite given they have shown so much faith in youth.
The attack is currently on stand-by. Serhou Guirassy is the name that has been targeted for some time and his €17m release clause is not a problem, but the Premier League is an attraction for the Guinea international.
Milan can no longer count on the Growth Decree, which raises the overall amount of the operation. Guirassy meanwhile is at the Africa Cup of Nations yet he is seriously considering a move in January. Milan are thinking of something else today, in 10 days who knows.
