Serbian journalist Nemanja Grbic sat down with the Milan Reports Twitch team to discuss Milan's form, the upcoming matches, and the transfer market. The journalist has written for Four Two Two, These Football Times, and others. He is very keen on one of Milan's striker targets, Dusan Vlahovic, and spoke highly of the Fiorentina striker.
When asked about his Milan fandom:
“Regarding Milan, I think I have been a fan since Dejan Savićević. I've been following Milan since those days. It has been a roller coaster. I started to follow them in those days, and something drew me in. Thats been my club."
When asked about who could help reinforce the attack next season if a move is made in the transfer market:
“I like Dusan [Vlahovic]. I heard his price was 30 million euros in January, and I had a feeling that his price would go up every week. I think as more time goes by, his price will go up. He’s in good form and performing consistently. At this point, I am not sure that Milan is ready to offer an amount of 40-50 million. When you consider the past experiences with younger strikers, like Silva, Piatek, and others, they could not immediately produce. Let’s talk Dusan and his background. he was breaking records when he first stepped on to the pitch. He was already spotted by Juventus, Man City and others after his debut. When he was 15 years old and playing in Italy, he was already nicknamed “the next Ibrahimovic”. They were impressed with his physical and technique. I started to follow him closely at that point. I wrote a piece for Four Two Two in 2017 introducing him as one of one the most talented players from Serbia. He has 15 goals this season, the only under 21-year-old in Europe better than him right now is Erling Haaland."
When asked about Belotti, another target that Milan is linked to, he had this to say:
“You see that now we are linked with Belotti. I don’t know if Belotti is better than Vlahovic. Where was Belotti at 21, Palermo. He did not play his first Serie A season until he was 21, and he scored 6 goals."
He spoke further on the pros and cons of a Dusan Vlahovic signing:
"Regarding Vlahovic's ability, I don’t think there’s a doubt that he has all the ingredients to be a top striker, but the question is, will Milan make a move. It has pros and cons. The pros would be that Vlahovic worked before with Pioli. He gave him a chance to play in Serie A. They have an excellent relationship. They speak highly of each other. Dusan has also said numerous times that Ibrahimovic is his idol. He tries to do a lot of things like Ibra. From that point of view, it might be good for him to spend time beside Ibra and learn from him and further improve. From the other camp, how much will he play? This year, Ibra missed a lot of games, and Vlahovic would have played a lot this season, will that be the case next season? It’s logical to think that could be true since Ibra will be another year older."
He was then asked if he thinks Vlahovic would fit in Pioli's 4-2-3-1 formation and if there is any concern with him being another "Silva or Piatek":
“At the moment, I don’t think Vlahovic can be compared to Piatek or Silva because those guys are poachers, he is not a poacher, but he’s also not a target man striker like Ibra. He is something in between. He’s not dominant in the air like Ibra. He would struggle a bit to fit in this system at the beginning, but he will learn and grow in to the role. That's the thing about Vlahovic, he learns quickly, he adapts, he has a skillset that allows him to score in many ways. I really think he has it all. If I were in his shoes, I would take another season at Fiorentina to prove myself, and prove that I am not a one season wonder."
Only time will tell if Milan makes an aggressive move to sign another young striker. Many are hesitant of the projected asking price and some prefer a safer option like Andrea Belotti. Milan's signings of young forwards in recent years have not proven to be favorable, could Vlahovic break that trend?
