Given their second place in the standings and a squad with clear shortcomings in certain areas of the pitch, expectations were high for Milan’s winter transfer window. Instead, it closed with just one signing for the first team, namely Niclas Füllkrug. A physical striker like him was sorely needed by the Rossoneri, but there was also a need, for example, for a centre-back and a right-sided wide player. Sporting director Igli Tare explained to DAZN before the match against Bologna: “No defender arrived? We didn’t feel the need. If there had been something that could really help us, we would have done it, but then we decided together with Max to move forward with this group, which has given us great satisfaction up to this point.”
One reinforcement for Allegri:
It is true that in recent weeks Koni De Winter has been delivering excellent performances, and that yesterday in Bologna Zachary Athekame also showed some good things on the right in place of the injured Saelemaekers. Still, perhaps more could have been done. Fifty points after 23 league matches is a very strong return, but if the goal is to try to challenge Inter for first place, a couple of additional signings would have been extremely useful. And given the less-than-ideal conditions of Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leão, someone like Jean-Philippe Mateta, obviously fit and without the knee issue that caused the deal to collapse, would certainly have given the Rossoneri an extra gear, writes Milan News.
Signings for the future:
While only one move was made in January for the first team, the club was very active in strengthening the Milan Futuro squad with several highly interesting prospects. In defence, the 2008-born El Hadj Malick Cissè and the 2007-born Magnus Dalpiaz arrived. In midfield, Milan signed the 2009-born Aaron Babaj, the 2005-born Jacopo Sardo and the 2008-born Yahya Idrissi-Regragui, while Alphadjo Cissè (born in 2006) was brought in to bolster the attack. After joining the Rossoneri, they were integrated into Massimo Oddo’s second team, but in the coming months they will also get a look in with the first team, where Allegri will have the chance to observe them closely and quickly form an idea of who could become important for Milan’s future. The Livorno-born coach knows how to work well with young players and has already shown in his career that, if they deserve it, he will have no problem giving them a chance with the first team.
