In the summer, AC Milan decided to send out Lorenzo Colombo on loan to Monza. Luka Jovic was brought in to replace the youngster but it’s a move that hasn’t played out in the Rossoneri’s favour.
Milan have struggled with consistency in attack this season, scoring multiple goals in some games and zero in others. With the 37-year-old Olivier Giroud leading the line, fans have questioned the decision to let Colombo leave in the summer.
The background
Colombo returned to Milan at the end of last season after a good year with Serie A side Lecce. He scored six goals, including the penalty that secured their contract for this season. At just 20 years old, therefore, he impressed in his first season in the top tier.
The striker continued to impress in the pre-season but as Milan were linked with Mehdi Taremi, a loan was always looming. In the final days of the mercato, the Rossoneri agreed to send Colombo out on loan as per the request of the youngster, who wanted guarantees on playing time.
Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada agreed to the move, resuming their pursuit of a striker on the mercato. After trying to sign various players, they eventually had to settle for Luka Jovic as the Taremi negotiations broke down a few days earlier.
Many questions
It’s a decision that the management must take responsibility for, as Colombo has started the season well while that hasn’t been the case for Jovic. The youngster has three goals in ten appearances, and the feeling is that he could have impressed a lot at Milan.
Jovic, meanwhile, hasn’t found the back of the net and has also failed to offer anything to Milan. This has made life difficult not just for Stefano Pioli, but also for Olivier Giroud who has been forced to work overtime.
It’s also worth noting that Milan stalled Colombo’s loan move for nearly a month before they sanctioned the deal. It was a rather strange decision to allow it in the end, in other words, as Jovic was an emergency solution on deadline day.
At the end of the season, unless anything is done in January, the situation up front is something the Milan management must analyse and take responsibility for.
Jovotic is not bad player but the Problem is Pioli who never give him a chance.
Pioli is the first ever acmilqn Coach in History who never Produced a single Player from Primavera and Desyroyed the Young ones.
Last year he made Flop the most Expnensive Player in the Squard -CDK ,and this Year he repeated the same by keeping Chekuaeza on tje Bench,
When sacking Maldini and Masara it was great mistake to let him stay.
The Real Problem is the Owners and managers who are watching the projects destroyed by enemy and dull pioli
he is a very poor player. One season wonder like Piatek
Agree
he has played a combined 223′ minutes which doesnt even equates to 2.5 full matches played. Bigger names than his has had slowerr starts at new clubs.
He had a pretty decent season last year and his first two first years at eintract frankfurt wasn’t bad either.
Considering we got him for free this deal easily could be smart if he at least starts to score some goals and if he was completely useless im sure clubs like benfica and madrid and now milan wouldnt have gotten him to begin with. It might be his last chance though at a big club if he fails here so id suggest him to biuckle up and work harder than the rest of the group but it might be that his head isnt all right and that is what is holding him back from reaching his true potential.
its true he did not play a lot so far but okafor played even less (as st) and made an impact already.. idk
Sure okafor hit the ground faster but he has also played 393′ minutes and as i also said bigger names than jovic has taken longer to become successfull at new clubs as well. I recently mentioned in a post if jovic actually scores a brace then the tune of people calling him a flop etc. it could be a completely different narrative.
My biggest gripe with him up untill now is that he doesnt run and fight hard enough which is a reasonable expectation from a player that tries to salvage his career.
The downside to his ‘free’ signing is he denied Colombo and possibly even Okafor game time.
Every signing impacts other players so shouldn’t be done lightly.
And really a serious club shouldn’t be signing players in the last minute or taking punts on players.
Signing players should be a serious matter that is part of a long term strategy. Unfortunately modern football treats footballers like casual workers.
Well there were media reports at the time that colombo wanted a loan to be guaranteed minutes but that we actuallu would have liked to keep him but at the same ttime didnt want to stunt his development either so we accepted it.
The player has deffently been amongst wishlisted and scouted players so not really sure it was done that lightly even though not a first choice on the list either.
I agree preferably players should be brought in early on but back in the days we also did some last minute aquisitions.
I dont disagree but on the same time generally speaking theres also urgency to consider and maybe clubs like ajax better can addord to field a bunch of youngsters than we can. In the end i dont field sorry for footballers they have better salaries than most people and do what they like.
I was slightly optomistic he might find some form at Milan. He has shown nothing. He has done nothing for about 5 years. He’s done.
Colombo on the other hand shows real talent and played well in pre-season. He runs, he has a lovely touch, great left foot etc etc. He is a big lad that is just growing into himself, I have high hopes for him.
same here for colombo but if he wanted to be loaned out that is also fair in my book so he keeps developing,
Colombo pushed for a loan but didn’t need to be given a loan particularly if he could be given reassurances.
He’s getting games at Monza and doing ok but at some point if he’s to play for Milan he needs to play for Milan. With many strikers it’s about that one or two seasons when things click into place so the more time he spends away from the club the less likely things are going to click into place for him at Milan.
He should look to Calabria as a player who broke into the starting line up without ever going on loan.
Most of our successful players in recent years never went on loan: De Sciglio, Donnarumma, Calabria, Locatelli and Cutrone.
Once those that left left us they were gone and most have struggled since (although Cutrone scored again this weekend!).
Assurance is given by our Mister. Colombo, Gabbia, Saeles (he said he is not happy near the end of last season), Adli (he was even told he’s not wanted at the start of the season) … these players need game time and matches. Thus, they need to go elsewhere to get them if they cannot be assured at Milan. On hindsight, our Mister should have played Okafor, Florenzi and even Jovic right from the start against Lecce. Otherwise, when better time to start them?
Maldinis Heir But he couldnt be given reassuarances and rightly so.
Well ive said it before i have no issues with colombo or us utilizing some youth players but you isnt just guaranteed play time in milan you make yourself desserve the minutes not the other way around. Its a truth with modification you are proposing here because obviousy it can be good to know players and system etc. but we have a long history of players we owned that was loaned out or was co-owned by other clubs who had to wait for their chance and then later on had it and scucceded.
Caabria is the exception and the great majority of youth players at ALL clubs are bound to fail. I do hope though that colombo returns next season but he really shouldnt set his jope ip for anything more than a 3rd spot in the cf hierachy at least not for now.
curtone plays for como in serie b so thats not really a sign of promise. and i believe he is 25 years now.
Jovic is not a bad player, he just doesn’t have the confidence to play for a club like Milan. It was a wrong move for both parties. He should have gone to a mid-table club like Bologna rather than having such a jump with joining Milan.
He made me miss Origi, quite literally. He is mostly invisible throughout the game and does not have a presence like Giroud, who is always ready to carry the ball or pass it to the wide player.
This is exactly what pioli is at Milan
Thanks dude, finnaly a person with a a good sense of judgment, blamikg the appropriate person, it’s Not the players or Pioli but the fucking Owner and the managers with their Mismanagement carrying out with tools as algorithms-Moneyball
Pioli never give Jovic a chance? Lmao i swear a lot of commenters in here never watched Milan match where Jovic starts or from sub and he didn’t do much. People in here even complaint why Pioli played Jovic against Lecce.
Also. Jovic arrived at Milan at the end of transfer window and he looks fat and unfit because he didn’t played at all for months. It’s just crazy Moncada and Furlani thinks it was a great idea to brought unfit player like Jovic over using Colombo as Giroud backup.
But sure blame Pioli for getting mediocre players like Jovic 🙄
We were reassured that the team of Moncada, Pioli and Furlani were working in perfect harmony unlike when Maldini was there,.according to Scaroni and parroted through sites like these, Wasn’t that the prevailing narrative? Pioli said he got the players he wanted and has a team he says can win. It HAS to be the case that he wanted Jovic and didn’t want a proper DM or some people are lying. He can’t cry about the players he got. He’s the centre of the project
It was beyond silly. He’d gotten more than enough minutes as the second option not to mention he’d play CL.
Jovič was a poor idea from the start, dude did nothing in 3-4 years. Might as well kept Origi then
This nonsense again.
Colombo so far has played 758 minutes for Monza.
Jovic has played 223 minutes for Milan.
Colombo left Milan because he knew that unless Giroud is injured or suspended Pioli will not play him.
If Colombo stayed at Milan, everything that is said today about Jovic people would be saying about Colombo.
You can’t judge a player based on couple minutes here and there. Let him play 3,4 games in a row before you say he is trash.
Colombo plays every game for Monza. At Milan that wouldn’t have been happening.
With Giroud suspension, Jovic will finally get a chance to play, and we will see what he can do. That’s unless the “genius ” coach doesn’t come up with 1 one his ” genius” ideas to play Pulisic or Krunic as n9.
Also, Colombo being ambitious ans a smart person pushed for Milan to send him on loan so he can play regularly, it’s not that Milan management didn’t want him to stay.
Same with CDK.
Both of those players are not at Milan this season because of the coach, not the management. You can throw in Saelemakers in there too.
Well he ended up with the same goal tally as Colombo last season, and Colombo was with Lecce fighting relegation while he was at Fiorentina, Jovic just isn’t up to scratch, physically he isn’t up to Milan standards either and he just doesn’t have the technique to make up for that deficiency just like at Real Madrid and Fiorentina. Colombo on the other hand is athletic, strong and has an eye for goal. There’s a reason Ibra calls him The Hulk.
Jovic had 13 goals & 5 assists in all competitions for Fiorentina last season.
Colombo had 6 goals & 2 assists at Lecce last season.
How is that the same goal tally?
Also, let’s use the CDK example.
At 40 games under Pioli he had zero goals and 1 assists.
In 14 games at Atalanta he has 2 goals 2 assists.
How come we are not talking about Milan making a mistake not keeping CDK?
“Oh, but CDK can’t handle the pressure of Milan jersey that’s way he performs better at a smaller club!”
How do we know that Colombo can handle the pressure of playing for Milan? He also performs at even smaller club than CDK’s.
Plus , people talk about Colombo like he is Lautaro and has scored 12 g in 11 games and keeping him would have changed the whole season for Milan. Colombo has scored only 3 goals, of which 2 came in the same game, even though he plays regularly every game as a starter, something that ain’t happening under Pioli.
CDK, Origi, Jovic, Okafor, in
a season and a half all together scored 4 goals total. Are they all awful players or Milan has a coach that doesn’t know how to use them and rarely gives them opportunity to Play?
but jovič is cr@p and colombo might not have been cr@p. Why did fiora want to get rid of him (for free even) if he had a good season?
He’s just Valeri Bojinov 2.0
Agreed. Would have warmed the bench. Young players need to play.
The Taremi issue is the bigger story.
Yeah lets gimp Colombo’s growth because people dont understand that you need gametime to grow
if Colombo stayed here for last 2 years you think he’d be the same player???
It’s hard to say who would have been better. Colombo never got the minutes or the trust under Pioli. That’s one of Pioli’s negatives. Jovic, needs more minutes to get into some sort of a rhythm. Unfortunately for him, Pioli will never allow him that, because Stefano has his favorites and he’ll play them into injuries before rotation.
Offloading Colombo was with the plan of securing Taremi which we would have done had it not been for Taremi’s entourage asking for money last minute. Jovic was a free knee-jerk signing. No one ever PLANNED to sign Jovic. Let’s not forget that.
So all Pioli has up front is Giroud for better or worse. That’s more of problem of management than Pioli.
Not much to on this issue; both not good enough. Milan needs something better.
Correct 13 in 52 appearances, 6 Serie A goals, so they have the same tally buddy. 31-6-3 for Jovic, 33-5-2 for Colombo. Hardly that much different considering the quality of the squads. Also it was not the plan, do you actually read? Colombo requested to go because he knew he wasn’t going to get game time. Jovic had one good season under his belt. He’s hardly been anything to write home about, even Patrick Cotrone had one good season, what Lorenzo on the other hand has shown is consistency. He can be integral, the problem some of you guys have is you go in with the PSG mindset, whereas you should be looking at Man City and Milan of the past, youth with experience, and not failed projects either.
What? No one is saying that Jovic should be a starter at Milan or that he is a great striker.
All I’m saying is that if Colombo stayed and jovic didn’t come, Milan would be in the same position they are today.
Jovic and Colombo will give you the same production for the same minutes they’d be getting under Pioli.
You said that jovic had more goals and assists than Colombo last season because he played more games. True, jovic played 800 more minutes than Colombo last season. But shouldn’t you use that same excuse for why Colombo has more goals than jovic this season? Colombo has played almost 600 more minutes than jovic so fat this season.
Basically jovic and Colombo are the same player that will give you the same production and Milan is still in the same sh*t. The only thing you’d be doing by keeping Colombo over jovic is stagnating Colombo’s progress as a player, because as I said, at Milan he wouldn’t ne getting the minutes or continuity of starting every week and playing 90 minutes that he gets at Monza.
Colombo has only scored in 2 games even though he plays and starts almost every game at Monza , and people talk like he would be Milan savior this season if he stayed. And Monza actually plays better and more free flowing football than Milan.
This isn’t about Columbo. I think it was necessary to loan him out so he could get the PT he needed to continue to grow. This is about MANAGEMENT not properly securing a STARTER or capable backup to Giroud. Jovic is absolutely atrocious and should never see the pitch for us again. Management passed on Lukaku, Taremi and Thuram – all were attainable – all were available – all within our budget – and all wanted to come. Now we are in the same position as last season – have to rely on a 37 yr old Giroud to play every 3 games. This is shows the complete ineptness of this current management. Shameful by Furlani and Co
Is there any chance we could get a decent look at Jovic? I don’t rate him as a player but the way players get written off without any real opportunity is a pretty sick sport, to be honest. It’s very Brittany Spears South Park episode.
It’s no surprise that Colombo has better numbers, that tends to happen when you get a chance to play. They seem to be very similar players to me. Stocky and strong, not particularly quick. Jovic is probably more of a poacher whereas Colombo is almost more a false 9.
I watched the Torino v Monza game. The thing that really stood out to me is the interplay between Colpani + Pessina (the AMs) and Colombo. The 3 would work together to create space to progress the ball into dangerous areas. Colombo looked good, he held the ball up pretty well and distributed. His ability to hit the ball from outside the area makes him more dangerous than he’d otherwise be. He’s not quick enough break into the box which is why we don’t see a stack of classical #9 goals.
It’s not the first time I’ve watched Colombo this year and he is definitely a better player than I thought he was 2 months ago.
But we have to seriously questions whether Colombo would look as good up front for Milan as what he does playing for Monza. We play more from the wings than Monza does. We ask the striker to play as target men. Monza doesn’t really ask that of Colombo. Maybe he is just a really good allround striker but I do not think the evidence is there yet.
I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have Colombo in the squad. If Jovic is all we were going to end up with anyway, it is stupid that Milan didn’t just keep its homegrown player. But there is a lot of hindsight involved in the claim that we should have just kept Colombo as the back up to Giroud (a decision which had to be made pre-2023).
I think this has a lot of the hallmarks of the Dybala story last year. It helps those who want to bash certain decision makers to pretend like it is just a straightforward matter of transferring the stats directly across from one team and system into a completely different system. There is no consideration for how the Milan system has to change for the player we don’t have to perform to the same individual level.
Imagine this alternative Milan if over the past 10 years we’d held onto our youth players and focused on key signings (for which I’ll give myself a bit of poetic licence given the other cost savings).
Donnarumma – free
Calabria – free
Rúben Dias – 70m
Romagnoli – 25m
Theo – 20m
Locatelli – free
Rodri – 62m
Bellingham – 133m
Salah – 43m
Haaland – 60m
Mpappe – 180m
Gori – free
Plizzari – free
Bellanova – free
Gabbia – free
Kjaer – ???
De Sciglio – free
Cristante – free
Pessina – free
Bonaventura – 7m
El Shaaraway – 10m
Cutrone – free
Petagna – free
Total cost: approx 700m
(We’ve spent over 1 billion in this period)
Now obviously I’m being a bit silly with the signings but that’s the thing – signings should be silly. They should be next level. Maybe not this next level when you’ve got the Man City’s and PSG’s but A next level.
Meanwhile we’ve used the youth players we did produce to build the basis of a squad.
Many would be squad players but so is Jovic and all the other Jovic’s we signed in that period which pushed out these squad players.
Maybe we still have Donnarumma because we haven’t wasted so much money and effort faffing around on the transfer market and we’ve had a stable Milan-like squad.
This is thing all of these players who didn’t show loyalty weren’t exactly part of any kind of stable, long term “family”.
I’ve kept the likes of Romagnoli who alongside a player like Dias which might have prevented the former’s regression.
The likes of De Sciglio, Cristante, Locatelli, Bomaventura and El Shaaraway would’ve provided a backbone to the squad of established players.
It’s not about the individual players but the approach. The focus on signing fewer better quality players to build a squad of youth players v the scatter gun approach that left us with the worst of every world.
This is what I’m getting at when I criticise the modern transfer market. I’m not against transfers. They just need to be worthwhile.
And money isn’t an excuse. In fact the less money one has the more efficient one has to be.
100s of signings and billions spent is not efficient.
I am in furious agreement with the sentiments. While I understand the point, the reality is that we don’t even need to spend that much once the foundation is properly set.
It’s been done before, too.
That was essentially the basis of the Man Utd juggernaut under Ferguson, the academy was the core of the team. If it wasn’t just the academy it was long term signings of UK / Irish nationals before they were expensive (I’m thinking here of Roy Keane in particular).
They then went out and spent money on a Cantona and then a Ronaldo (albeit they spent the money on 18 yo Ronaldo). There was a story of pinching Diego Forlan from Middlesbrough (I think) at the airport. It is a formula that basically held true for Ferguson’s entire tenure though they ended up having massive money to spend because success provides that luxury. They’ve since lost that identify, and the stability it brought, and have become a basket case.
Barcelona did it, too. There was a time I remember Xavi was just a player. He became the player we revere once he had played hundreds of games with the same players. I suspect this explains part of Messi’s record, too.
That’s just 2 of the biggest dynasties of the last 30 years.
There is so much to be said for the stability that follows players playing hundreds of games together. It makes integrating new players simpler.
It allows for taking risks on younger players, for example because they can just fit in as a cog in the system (until they are ready for more).
I think there is a clear positive impact of the core being ‘locals’ too.
As for an explanation as to why it is this way, I see clear evidence of graft and corruption. I don’t believe even half of the transfers that occur at the top end of the Serie A, for example, would withstand objective scrutiny (i.e. comparing what clubs will spend money on with what they already have but which will not result in the potential for profit from the transfer ‘process’).
Exactly!
I saw a post on social media recently from that completely bang average RB, Gary Neville, about what was his main driver when he was a footballer.
He said for him the thing that drove him every single day during his Man Utd career was that he was desperate to stay and play for his childhood club.
You simply cannot buy that motivation.
When Cutrone was sold (for no reason by Maldini of all people) he, Calabria and Locatelli exchanged messages on social media which captured this exact sensation.
Calabria said:
“It’ll be strange, so very strange, after all these years not to be in the same dressing room, wearing the same shirt, not having you constantly around at Milanello.”
Locatelli said:
“You embodied ‘Milanismo’ to perfection. I would like to write you many things, but for the moment I wish you the best because you deserve it for the person you are. Life confronts us with choices and we must take them. I hope for you that this is the right path. I am convinced that with your determination and hunger that only you have, that you’ll give your all and prove how much you’re worth in England too.
You cannot buy this type of bond and THAT bond could’ve provided a foundation on which to build a squad of the level of a Man Utd or Barcelona.
And to boot players like Bonaventura, El Shaaraway and Cutrone were just an absolute joy to support.
I’ll never forget seeing Cutrone clear the ball against Cagliari and running the length of the pitch, or Locatelli’s volley, all Bonaventura’s header in the Super Cup or so many memories of El Shaaraway.
Those memories were sold with the players. These transfers are killing the game and I 100% agree should be investigated. Agents shouldn’t be wealthier than actual players!
It does make me nervous about Camarda, in particular.
Everything suggests he is as prodigious a talent as we could hope for.
It may well be that his talent is enough, that it wont matter, but there have been many top level talents that have been crushed by pressure, poor dressing rooms, instability at ownership/management level etc.
If he is as good as he appears to be he will be an instant star at 18 or 19 if Milan is a stable club, with chemistry on each line and stable and driven dressing room.
If we are still flaky with frustrated and ambitious owners and supports (70,000 of whom fill a stadium every second week) we may well be looking at another Scamacca or Zaniolo. He’ll get there but the path will be longer than it needs to be.
I’m going to throw Daniel Maldini’s name in here, too, because he is far too good a player to be getting scraps on loan at relegation strugglers. If he was a kid in the Belgian league we’d spend 40m on him without hesitation.
It’s hard to gauge such things but it appears to me that Bartesaghi, Bakoune, Simic, Zeroli, Eletu, Stalmach, Cuenca, Scotti, Bonomi, Camarda and (possibly) Liberali have a blend of elite physical capacity and/or technical quality to suggest that they are perfectly capable of becoming the backbone of the team. I’m not saying that every one will definitely make it but if they finish top 2 in the Primavera and make the semi finals of the youth UCL, when they are such a young squad, it’s a pretty good sign they are the real deal.
I think Pioli has probably run his race. I hope they take a leaf out of Berlusconi’s book and look for the next Sacchi, go for a lesser name because it is a good fit for the club. I’d love to see Palladino, De Zerbi, Italiano or even Dionisi appointed, someone who can and will grow the club using the academy.
Agreed and you’re absolutely right to mention Maldini..
I think I am still scarred after what was a lost 10-15 years.
We had so many prodigies, many of whom were recognised at the time and even came into the first team and delivered.
Cristante was always going to be good enough for Serie A. He did everything we could’ve asked of him when he made his senior debut. He scored goals. He was the perfect understudy to Montolivo (a player treated appallingly by the club).
We lost Cristante when we signed Essien on a 6 month contract. It denied Cristante crucial playing time just as he had broken into the first team.
We then did the exact same thing with Locatelli signing Biglia when we already had Montolivo and Locatelli had already established himself.
Having pushed out Cristante and Locatelli we then spent a fortune on Tonali!
And then sold him!
Every time we settled on a midfield lynchpin we sold or pushed out that lynchpin.
My biggest concern for Camarda is that we are guaranteed to sign at least 1 or 2 strikers every season so by the time he’s ready he’ll be competing with at least 2-3 other players.
It was just a computer glitch in the moneyball system.
Well he’s our very last option in the very last day of the market. What to expect really.