AC Milan's striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is suffering from a calf problem which prevented him from participating in the latest Serie A fixture against Lecce at the San Siro. Many reports are questioning the future of the Swede. Naturally, there is news about a possible replacement of the former Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United star. A striker who could replace the 41-year-old forward is Arnautovic, according to latest rumours.
Pianeta Milan takes stock of the situation and writes that the age of the Austrian striker, who turned 34 just a few days ago, must be considered. For a club like AC Milan, which has operated in the market in recent years with the goal of creating a "green line," another over-30 player may not be useful in this sense. Especially because, beyond Divock Origi who has been disappointing, Stefano Pioli's main option for the forward line is Olivier Giroud, who will turn 37 in September.
Another important issue concerns injuries. While he did not have any major problems in the first part of the season, starting from the tenth matchday of Serie A, Marko Arnautovic began to face physical issues. First, he had back problems and suffered from gastroenteritis, although these were short absences. Later, however, the real difficulties emerged. During his season, he missed five matches due to a sprain and has been out since early April due to a foot injury, as reported by PianetaMilan.it.
Finally, the scoring numbers also assume importance. The last two seasons in Serie A with Bologna were the most consistent for Marko Arnautovic, who scored a total of 22 goals. This is a sign of a particular confidence in the Italian championship, given that he has rarely reached double digits in his career. It remains to be seen whether AC Milan will consider the Austrian striker a worthy replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic after weighing the pros and cons.
