With the transfer market ready to take off, club executives have begun working behind the scenes, making phone calls, establishing contacts, sounding out possibilities and making initial approaches in an attempt to get ahead of the competition for their transfer targets. The winter transfer window will officially open on Monday, 28 December, and close on Monday, 1 February 2020.
Five weeks during which clubs will be hunting for bargains and talents, but also looking to make adjustments to their squads. This is the case for Milan, who in these first few months of the season have been dealing with an attack that is struggling to score goals. In particular, the spotlight is on Gonçalo Ramos, the Portuguese striker who arrived in the summer from PSG for €70 million and has scored three goals so far (against Venezia, Salzburg and Atalanta, in addition to a missed penalty).
The only recognised striker available as an alternative to Ramos is 2008-born Francesco Camarda, the gem of Milan's youth academy who returned to the club after his loan spell at Lecce (with an option to buy and a buy-back clause exercised by Milan). So far, he has accumulated just over half an hour of league football spread across four appearances, in addition to one start and one substitute appearance in the Europa League.
Too little for a youngster who needs regular playing time to demonstrate all his talent. For this reason, Milan are beginning to consider a loan move to a team where he can find more playing time in the second half of the season. There is already a queue of clubs waiting for Camarda outside the door of the Rossoneri club. Requests had already arrived from both Serie A and Serie B in the summer, but Amorim had decided to keep him at the time. Now, the situation is different.
One of the options in Serie A is Monza, who would like to keep Varela but, should the Portuguese player leave, they like Camarda as his replacement. Parma and Sassuolo are also waiting in the wings, two clubs that could move in the market to strengthen their attack and are monitoring any developments regarding the future of the Rossoneri striker.
If Milan were to choose to send him down a division, half of Serie B would be ready to take him on a straight loan (a permanent sale has never been considered, in any division). Pisa and Sampdoria are currently slightly ahead of the others, but everything remains open. For the time being, a possible move abroad can be ruled out, as relayed via Calcio Mercato today.
If Camarda were to leave, as will probably be the case, the Rossoneri will look for a replacement in attack: Club Brugge's Nicolò Tresoldi remains the club's main target, but the Belgian club's asking price does not fall below €50 million. The possibility of Endrick remains on the table, with the Brazilian expected to leave Real Madrid in search of more playing time. Roma and other foreign clubs are also showing strong interest in him.
While waiting to see what happens in the transfer market, during the international break Camarda was one of the protagonists of Italy Under-21's victory over France. Silvio Baldini's national team won 2-1 in a friendly, with the 2008-born striker scoring the opening goal before Brest's Giovani Versini equalised and Sassuolo midfielder Luca Lipani scored the decisive goal.
On the eve of the match, the Italy coach had spoken about Camarda as follows: "He must get the negative things out of his head and think about the fact that he plays in Serie A and for the national team. In June, he was with the senior national team, and he is a 2008-born player. Over the next two years, he will still be the Under-21 team's centre-forward. He will remember this period with great joy because it will have helped him become a better player."
