The future is a must: for now, the striker situation hasn't truly heated up for Milan.
Once the departures are settled, the first priority has been the midfield — the department most in need of reinforcements, especially after Reijnders' departure. Then, most likely, attention will shift to the defense, particularly the full-back positions. And the attack? That will come in due time, also because late-June prices still risk being too steep. Igli Tare and his team know that the further into the summer you go, the easier it becomes to seize an opportunity.
The intention to give Massimiliano Allegri a true top-class striker, however, is already clear today. Within the Rossoneri management, discussions around potential names have been ongoing for some time. The one that everyone agrees on? Viktor Gyökeres.
A dream, but...
The reason is easy to understand: we’re talking about a penalty-box predator who scored 54 goals with Sporting in the 2024–25 season. Milan knows that to have even a sliver of hope of signing the Swede, certain conditions must be met. For example: no English club or major European powerhouse must go all-in for Gyökeres. The Rossoneri — especially without Champions League football — can’t compete in a bidding war with Premier League teams. What’s more, it would be difficult to convince the player to accept an offer from Milan.
The ideal scenario would see Gyökeres still in Lisbon at the start of August, perhaps frustrated with Sporting for failing to honor a promise to let him go for €60–65 million. At that point — if the competition allows it — Milan could play their hand. Even so, acquiring him would require an extraordinary financial effort by RedBird-era standards. The club knows this and is ready to make that effort for a top-tier forward. His salary, on the other hand, would be the least of their worries: the Swedish striker currently earns under €1.5 million, and Milan could easily offer €5–6 million, in line with the current top earners in the squad.
All of this, of course, remains hypothetical for now. The core question remains: could the Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres realistically remain up for grabs without one of Europe’s elite prying him away from the Portuguese league? The logical answer is no, but there are a couple of factors not to be underestimated. Viktor is 27 years old and has never really competed in a top-tier league — Champions League aside, where he did score six goals in eight matches. The top clubs might hesitate to invest such a high sum in a player with limited room for further growth and who would still need to adapt to a new environment.
The Azzurro Option
Naturally, Milan doesn't have only the hard-to-reach Gyökeres on their list. Among the alternatives, balancing traits and cost, the name of Mateo Retegui is one of the most highly regarded. He was the top scorer of the last Serie A season, knows how to move among Italian defenses — especially inside the box — and is also an important part of the Italian national team. Atalanta bought his contract a year ago from Genoa for €23 million, and now he’s valued much higher. How much? The transfer rumor mill speaks of €50 million — but negotiable. And even the Italo-Argentine’s salary (€2.2 million per season) is manageable.
For all these reasons, Retegui's name deserves more serious consideration compared to other recent options explored — from the Serbians Dušan Vlahović of Juventus and Al-Hilal's Aleksandar Mitrović to Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker Darwin Núñez, who has also long been on Napoli’s radar, as pointed out by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
