AC Milan’s Primavera side had a mixed but productive 2022-23 season, and they have begun the new campaign in very positive fashion.
Last season, the team battled against relegation in the league for most of the campaign before a late surge guided them away from danger, while in the UEFA Youth League they went on a memorable run to the final four of the competition for the first time ever.
As PianetaMilan write, the Primavera’s season started off on a high note as they managed to win their first two league games against Monza and Bologna, 3-1 and 4-1 respectively.
The report speaks of a ‘Baby boom’, breaking the squad down department by department.
Defence: The Primavera can count on a real pillar in Jan-Carlo Simic, who is the rock at the back and is clearly not too far away from making the jump given he played in the preseason friendlies in the USA, even starting against Real Madrid.
Could he soon make the leap to the first team full-time? It is too early to say and it is important not to rush the former Stuttgart man, but Simic remains fundamental for Ignazio Abate’s side.
Then there is the full-backs, starting with Adam Bakoune is slowly becoming more and more important for Abate, and Davide Bartesaghi who in the summer became one of the candidates for the position of deputy to Theo Hernandez.
After being called up against Bologna, at the moment Bartesaghi remains a point of reference for the Milan Primavera and perhaps one of the most promising and strongest full-backs in the category. Alex Jimenez – who arrived from Real Madrid in the summer – is still an unknown.
Midfield: Let’s move on to midfield where Abate can count on very solid players like Dariusz Stalmach, Victor Eletu and Mattia Malaspina, all of whom will be looking to take a step forward this season.
Kevin Zeroli continues to shine above all however. After starring in 2022-23, he has continued his good form into the new campaign and is showing himself to be a great box-to-box player with a knack for attacking contributions.
Zeroli can dominate in the Milan Primavera, but he could soon become a member of Stefano Pioli’s squad having also played in some of the first team friendlies.
Attack: In attack, the Primavera is overflowing with talent. Having lost Marko Lazetic, Abate focused on Diego Sia who for now is proving to be a top striker capable of scoring even with few chances.
Hugo Cuenca and Alessandro Bonomi shine on the flanks providing good service for the strikers thanks to their dribbling and speed.
Then there is perhaps the hottest property of all: 15-year-old Francesco Camarda. For now he hasn’t shone, but the talent is absolutely there and he will just need time to adapt.
Full Milan Primavera squad:
➤ Goalkeepers: Bartoccioni, Colzani, Raveyre, Torriani.
➤ Defenders: Bakoune, Bartesaghi, Incorvaia, Jimenez Sanchez, Magni, Nsiala Makengo, Paloschi, Parmiggiani, Simic.
➤ Midfielders: Eletu, Malaspina, Mancioppi, Perrucci, Sala, Stalmach, Zeroli.
➤ Forwards Bonomi, Camarda, Cuenca Martinez, Liberali, Scotti, Sia, Skoczylas.
What happened to Chaka Traore?
He trains with the first team. If he doesn’t get much opportunities then he will be loaned in January.
Does anybody know what happened to Andrei Coubis?
he is still with the primavera.
Ha e a bigger hope for Stalmach than any of the others. Height to weight ratio is good too, still needs a little bulk but not much.. movement is good
Some quality there. Can’t understand why we haven’t gone the NextGen route to be honest.
Simic is my player and next big thing
I don’t think we’ll see any of these players in the first team.
The first team squad is already massive and will become more massive each transfer window.
Even signing a modest 2-3 players each transfer window will deny opportunities to 2-3 primavera players. Every minute someone else plays is a minute denied to a primavera player until their entire season is reduced to 2-3 minutes.
Most will be loaned out randomly probably in the last minute to deny them a preseason with their new team. The good ones will be loaned with options to buy, the bad ones will have their loans cancelled a few months later, and the rest will be loaned out again and again and again until they become like that friend you have who is an eternal student.
The last decade we produced lots of talented players including the best players of their generations in the world.
The Italy squad that won the actual Euros had 3 of our former youth players: Cristante, Locatelli and Pessina.
All 3 were highly touted as youth players and both Cristante and Locatelli both actually stepped up and seized their opportunities in the first team. But it was never enough.
Cristante was crowded by a past-it Essien and Locatelli crowded out by past-it Biglia. Had we kept one of them we wouldn’t have needed Tonali. We’ve now gone through at least three players in that position and the media and fans are now calling for Krunic to be next.
Meanwhile the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern and Man City have the same players going back over 10 years.
Nothing about this summer tells me things are going to change. The media and fans response to the turnover is mostly positive, and the media and fans are already demanding more.
Milan will be forget stuck as a stepping stone club that sells its star players to fund endless transfers in an ill-conceived attempt to return to ‘greatness’.
I have said before that we didn’t have a suitable coach for about 6 years between Allegri and Pioli, and so you can’t really judge any of the players in that period.
However one coach who we should credit in that period is Siniša Mihajlović RIP. He actually did take some big chances with players most notably giving Donnarumma his debut at the age of 16. But he also gave first team opportunities to Ely and Calabria, and promoted Locatelli and (the legend that is) Cutrone (don’t care that he can’t seem to score for Como…).
Montella in turn also further developed those players and also brought in Gabbia. Hilariously these were some of the stand out performers on the season we signed a load of players in 17/18 (that apparently should never be used as a reference point for this summer).
It’s a shame these coaches were not elite coaches. Unfortunately winning and losing often comes down to the coach not the players. See Man Utd pre and post-Ferguson, Milan pre and post-Pioli.
One thing with wining coaches is that few take chances with kids. Except of course Ferguson in 1999….