While Stefano Pioli might have declared that he is happy with how the midfield currently looks, there remains the possibility that a signing will arrive to complete the department.
La Gazzetta dello Sport writes that Rade Krunic will be at the base of the new-look midfield as he is today at the top of the hierarchies, but the idea of giving depth to that particular position – namely the shield for the back four – is tempting.
There are two names that stand out above all: Nicolas Dominguez and Marko Grujic. The Argentine could leave Bologna in the coming weeks and Milan are just one of the clubs that have their eyes on him, while the Serbian might choose to depart Porto in pursuit of a new challenge.
Initially, the starter in the No.6 role will be Krunic. He is seen by Pioli as an all-rounder with guaranteed performance, given the Bosnian has played almost everywhere in recent years and the summer friendlies have given more than a few clues about his role.
He arrived in 2019 from Empoli for around €8m and after being the playmaker and the winger before, he will be the man of balance now.
Dominguez would give Pioli a quality player returning from his best season in Serie A having amassed 3 goals in the last year, with 2 assists, in 34 games.
With Bologna he mainly occupied the left side of the midfield and compared to Krunic he boasts better passing stats (average of 35.8 completed per 90 against the Bosnian’s 32.2) and recoveries (5.5). His contract expires in 2024 and the price tag stands at €15m.
Grujic is more a player of power and substance, and represents a more physical element at 1.90m tall and sizeable physique. With Porto he aamssed 33 appearances in the last season, with 1 goal and 1 assist on the scoresheet.
His contract is expiring in 2026 and his cost shouldn’t exceed €10m but his passing (26.3 completed per game) and the data on balls recovered (4 per game) put him below Krunic. Furlani and Moncada are thinking about it.
Below, the outlet provide a graph comparing key passes, completed passes and balls recovered per 90 minutes, as well as the average rating per game (top) and the heat map (bottom).
those Krunic lovers won’t be happy with that comparison lmao
Don’t you worry, they’re on their way to defend his honor and tell everyone they’re not fans
do you people think its cool to hate your own club’s players like this? Who are you trying to impress?
try supporting AC Milan once in a while.
Bless u!
Right on cue! Haha
Superior in every single possible way imaginable. And I’m not a big Grujic fan. Either way, we need to move quickly for one or the other.
I still think offloading needs to happen though. We have a squad that’s far too large. Rebic, Messias and CDK leaving is just the start of that.
Definitely better in almost every aspect, but his lover won’t let him leave and even wanna raise his wage just to keep another liability unless backup player.
I meant to say Dominguez is superior in every way possible.
Krunic has a lot more problems than what stats suggest. I think there is still a possibility he will leave.
We don’t need none of this guy’s if we are going another midfielder we must go to Samuele ricci or mats wieffer
Players who play this holding position in the 433 in seria a:
Lobotka, Cataldi (now Rovella), Lopez
la liga:
Jordan, Kroos
Stanislav Lobotka, at the base of the midfield, represents control. The Slovak is a conductor, always showing up for the ball, using his diminutive-yet-stocky frame to spin away from his marker, and spraying passes all over the pitch with incredible accuracy.
Dominguez is a box to box who played as such last year like Krunic who provides a minor upgrade but does not fit the role. Why would we add another.
Key Metrics:
Passing %
Medium/Long passes completed per 90
Dispossessions + Miscontrols per 90
Distance covered per 90 min
Blocks + Int, tackle %
Players who might fit role:
Samuele Ricci
Tijjani Reijnders
Marko Grujić
Fran Beltrán
Many other players…
Most stats are shaped by what role you are given rather than what your skills are so there may be people who can play the position that don’t have the stats because of lack of opportunity
this is only based on the role used by other teams playing the 433 formations which comes with a high press and more possession style tactic. Then using stats to find similar players to the ones who currently play them.
De Roon I meant to add.
Danc27 you forgot also Dominguez is slow to be holding midfielder
Like Dominguez but he’s not a natural 6. Grujic is crâp.
If they don’t intend to bring a proper dm in better not to bother.
If 433 goes to shít from lack of regista they can always switch to 4231.
“Fans” making problems where there are none
So Dominguez is mezzala?
Grujic maybe just like Kuco in term of strength, but in a downgrade skill, but I prefer Dominguez
People a few weeks ago were saying ‘8 signings is too many’ the same people want Milan to sign even more players and then will complain later in the season when we struggle to integrate all the new signings
its like everyone has a complaint ready no matter the situation lmao
I do think we do need a DM, but I have never complained about the new signings. But as far as others, you have a point.
Its clear we have had upgrades in attack.
I also think to minimize any issues with players adjusting. League players should only be considered. My two choices are Dominguez and Toloi, but we have never been linked to Toloi.
just sign someone if we get cheap deal towards deadline day, for now we have enough, the squad needs to play together and start to gel first and then we’ll see what gaps remain except for the obvious ones like ST.
Its too early to tell anything.
That’s why I suggested Toloi. Contract expires in a year, and we probably could get him for 2-3 million towards the end. Surely he would be better than Kjaer right now, and I used to love Kjaer but injuries got the best of him.
I think we’re better than last season. A question is how cohesion is, and I understand that. Lots of new players indeed.
Grujic is worse then Krunic. Not just in stats. He was also horribly bad in Liverpool. Maybe he can get decent stats in the Portuguese league, not in Italy.
Dominguez would be a big upgrade thou. So he should be the obvious choice as he is used to Italy already as well
This is such a weird comparison, stat-wise and .
Goals? Assists? That’s an odd way to judge players who are defensive or would be required to play that role. I prefer Fbref over sofascore as it shows the percentile. Also looks like they have different data (might be that sofa has overall stats incl UCL or vice-versa??) but the monotonicity of the stats are consistent so there’s that.
Another important factor to consider is per 90m vs %. I always lean percentages when the minutes for each player is not comparable and just in general. Otherwise the time element would be the factor causing the effect rather than the category you’re looking at..for instance, if you look at the passes completed per 90 and as alluded to in the article, Dominguez has a higher number around 35.8 compared to 32 while Grujic is way behind at 26.3 which is not even remotely close to the other two. But that’s because Grujic has far less minutes 1000, than the other two – over 2000. And Dominguez starts and completes more minutes so has a bigger chance of completing more per game. If the total playing time is similar, passes completed is not a bad comparator. In games where you’re a sub especially or do not play the full 90, this becomes even more impactful. However, percentage completion -wise which to me is a better indicator, Krunic has 84.9, Dominguez 82.3 and Grujic 85.6 putting Grujic as the best passer in accuracy wise even though he had fewer completed passes per 90min. Just wanted to point that out. Also completing a pass is one thing but if you attempt many it could mean you’re an inaccurate passer.
Anyways. I think they’re both better defensively than Krunic and based on other stats not shown in the article it seems that way (and which I’m willing to discuss, im already in TLDR territory). Grujic on stats seem like the better of the three. But again it’s positioning that’s going to be the key. What wins it for me for Grujic is his interceptions (indicates reading of the game) and aerial duels. Also if ppl think Musah is great at tackling up the pitch, based on Grujic stats, he’s better ALL over the pitch (def third, mid third and att third).
TLDR: the completion stat per 90 is potentially misleading. Better to use percentages or percentiles. Grujic comes out on top
Oh I forgot to put in a major part about the per 90m. It’s also position and requirement related. Some positions and roles require of the person to be more passing, tackling and so on depending on the coach and system. It would skew the stat.