Paolo Maldini and Zvonimir Boban are working on the January market, but their top target is still taking his time.
Milan are starting to look better after months of bad play and bad results, but it’s obvious that reinforcements are needed in January if the club intends to fight for a place in Europe in the second half of the Serie A season.
Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Italia provided an update on the situation of the Rossoneri, in view of the transfer market which opens in three weeks.
The number one target of directors Maldini and Boban is Zlatan Ibrahimović. However, the response of the Swede has not yet arrived, also because there’s still no agreement in regards to the duration of the contract: the 38-year-old wants a 18-month contract (with an important salary), while Milan want a six-month deal with an option to extend for another year at the end of the season.
Napoli are also interested in the striker and Di Marzio claims that Aurelio De Laurentiis has already made a phone call to agent Mino Raiola. However, right now new Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso wants to evaluate who he has in his current squad before deciding whether to go for Ibra.
Mario Mandžukić has been mentioned as a possible alternative to Zlatan for Milan. The Croatian has offers from China and the United States and in the last few days there was a discussion between Juve and Milan for the veteran striker. However, the Diavolo are focused on Ibrahimović.
Milan could also be on the market in January for a central defender. Léo Duarte is out for a few months and it’s unclear what the level of Mattia Caldara is as he’s just returned from his long-term injury and only played a few games with the Primavera of Federico Guinti.
According to Di Marzio, Merih Demiral of Juventus – who was a target of Milan also in the summer – is the first objective of the club for the defense. Juve are unlikely to sell him, even though he’s hardly used, and even if they do they are likely to demand €30-35m for the Turkish. Jean-Clair Todibo of Barcelona is another reported target of Milan and his price would be around €25m.
A few players will definitely leave in January too, most likely Ricardo Rodríguez – whose agent tries to send him to Napoli – and perhaps even Fabio Borini, who is hardly involved anymore.
Milan should consider Depay, Everton Soares if Ibra is not coming. These are very solid additions that will surely make our attack formidable.If we are to sell one or two players let’s go ahead. We can keep average players hoping they will change overnight. Lazio, Atlanta don’t have Ibra in their squad and they play well. If we get solid players, we will play well and that’s axiomatic.
Sure ok, waiting strategy really payed off in the summer with many targets lost due to it
Ted, what I mean is the “we can’t keep on waiting on average players” . “Not” should be understood after the word “can” . Sorry it’s an erroneous ommision from my comment Forza MIlan !