Our first fan post since we moved to the new site! Woo-woo! Hopefully the first of many fan posts from our many regulars. And, who better to start it off than our very own FRANK_MILAN!
Frank lives in Kenya and has been a regular here since the Offsides days (if you need a refresher, check out our About Us page). He’s even authored a few previous fan posts at the various sites FDL1899 has had. Always ready to talk Milan, Frank is a regular in the comment section during games, post match wrap ups, and everything in between. With his deep love and knowledge of Milan and the game of football itself, Frank is a good source for informed dialogue.
Now, for what I hope is the first of many more fan posts, Frank tackles the upcoming (already here?) summer mercato. He shares some potential targets and their real feasibility for Cardinale’s Milan, going over possible wages, cost, and Milan’s own player sales and movement and how that might factor in. So, kick back and enjoy some Milan/Calcio talk from Frank!
Milan's Defense Upgrade Strategy
This is one area where I want us to get busy and tussle it out with others for the available high quality freebies. Spinazzola is available for free. He’s a starting 11 caliber player, is at his prime and is Italian. He can be a game changer for us tactically giving us limitless options. A back 3 suddenly becomes a possibility with Theo moving to LCB and Spinazzola as the LWB.
In a traditional back 4, Theo can move to left side CB and Spinazzolla can take up the LB role. I don’t know about you but all these options feel good for me. Next up get a starting 11 caliber CB to partner with Tomori long term and that RB upgrade to complete the defense. If Torino can lower their demand for Buongiorno and maybe agree to a player plus cash offer then I’d go for that. We can add Pobega and Colombo both who Toro have shown interest in before to lower the cash outlay to less than 20m.
I’m high on Buongiorno because he’s Italian, tall, left footed, 24 years old and good. I feel like his style and attributes complement Tomori’s real well. If it’s not feasible to get him then I’m ok with Moncada working his magic with the analytics and getting us someone ready to start.
Milan's CDM Options
Yet again I’d be looking at the freebies market for a few options available. If we spend too much on CF and defense acquisitions we can actually get away with not spending a dime on a CDM option if we play it smart. Fiorentina’s Castrovilli is available for free. Italian, young and a good CDM who easily finds a role within this Milan side.
I’d look at Juve’s Rabiot as well who’s also available in free agency. He earns 7m/year at Juve which is definitely out of reach for us but I doubt Juve would be giving anywhere close to that if they decided to renew him. His true value is a 3.5-4m/season player and if he can agree to this at 29 years of age, I’d be ok with giving him a multi year contract.
Earlier on I was keen on Zielenski, who even though not a CDM, he’s an elite central midfielder who can slot in as a depth option or as a starter in the event we lose Pobega or Benna. That’s water under the bridge now as he’s heading to Inter. Inter’s Stefano Sensi is also available for free and can become usable if we lose Benna or Pobega.
Amrabaat though is someone who we should pursue if available for next to nothing. His Man Utd move ended up blowing up in his face but I think he still is arguably a Benna upgrade. Good in breaking up play, good passer, high work-rate player and technically above average. He knows Serie A already and his integration should be seamless.
Milan's CF Search
If Zirkzee’s release clause is actually 40m, I think we should get him. His upside is worth a 40m risk tbh, it’s a crazy market these days. I’d also think hard about Jonathan David of Lille and here’s why: he’s young, extremely pacy and strong. He’s also proven himself a capable double digit goals per season and after a less inspiring season his value is at its lowest. Word is we can get him for 30m or less.
Get these two and have a possibility of playing 2 CFs occasionally. Zirkzee/Okafor as support strikers and Jovic/J. David as CFs is a nice combination. If we keep the 4-2-3-1 which is more likely we have J. David/Zirkizee?/Jovic as the CF depth. Now onto the money part of it, Zirkizee for 40m out of which we get 12m back for the Saeler permanent move meaning we’re down 28m. J. David for little over 25m would be ok but for the sake of the analysis let’s put it at 28m.
If J. David becomes too complicated due to prize tag we can get that Guirassy guy from the Bundesliga. 28 league goals with only 4 being PKs and 2 DFB goals in a team that finished ahead of Bayern Munich in 2nd is nothing to be frowned on. I want to believe this can’t be a fluke and for a 17m release clause and him being 28 years old, I’m not passing up on that unless I get better options. I hear he wants 5m/season and that’s what is pushing away management but still…work out something.
Now assuming Atalanta goes ahead and exercises that CDK buy option as they have confirmed, we get 23m in cash with 5m in bonuses. Zirkzee-J. David option costs us 68m and Zirkzee-Guirassy option costs us 57m. Saeler and CDK bring us 35m meaning the cash outlay for our 2 strikers is 33m if we go with Zirkzee-J. David or 22m if we go with Zirkzee-Guirassy. I think that’s not too much for a club like Milan.
Wrap Up
After all is done between CF, defense and CDM, I don’t think we spend more than maximum 65m in net spending. We just have to be smart, swift and a bit aggressive in conducting business. Our set bar is Inter and our moves should be orchestrated to reach and pass that level. It would be a real shame if we let Inter run away and Juve to catch up with us.
Forza Milan
Frank
*Frank isn’t on the social medias out there (that I know of!) but I will update if that changes. Frank can be found here as @FRANK_MILAN in the comment section