After Andre Silva, Kalinic or an attacking winger? The doubts about Rossoneri tactics, between opportunity and necessity
Doubts are surrounding the rossoneri about whether to sign an attacker or a winger. Andre Silva may be joined soon by Nikola Kalinic.
The unexpected Donnarumma case and the slowdown in negotiations for Biglia and Conti (he is just a step away from joining the rossoneri, read here the details) have partially removed the spotlight on what Milan has already achieved in the transfer market, with the signings of Mateo Musacchio (18 millions from Villarreal), Franck Kessie (28 millions from Atalanta), Ricardo Rodriguez (18 millions in total from Wolfsburg) and above all Andre Silva.
The Portuguese attacker arrived in AC Milan for nearly 40 million euros and with the exception of shocking and unexpected moves, he will be the starting centre forward for the next season. We are not talking about a young kid coming from a minor league or a youth league, but a Portuguese national on the rise, already decisive even in the Champions League games.
Probably Andre Silva still doesn’t have the charm of a player like Alvaro Morata, but Milan purchased the 22 year old to trust him to lead the attack and not to use him as a simple back up. This is a certainty, waiting to understand what is still unclear: with what formation will the rossoneri play next season, especially on the offensive front? Up until now, Milan, in addition to signing the Portuguese, have negotiated a deal for Balde Keita, with Nikola Kalinic as the main target. James Rodriguez remains a vivid alternative if Real Madrid are willing to lower their demands.
Keita, or another winger (with Forsberg the favorite), would push forward Montella’s 4-3-3 project, which was already successfully used this season. The arrival of an offensive winger would, however, make a bit contradictory the possible singing of Nikola Kalinic, for which Milan may spend between around 30 million euros. Could the Chinese spend such a big figure for a simple alternative to Andre Silva? Or is the manager planning to put a 4-3-3 formation for next season, trying to form a module that can support two attackers? This weekend we talked a lot about a possible 3-5-2 formation, given Conti’s upcoming arrival, but at that point we should completely review the composition of the attack, considering that in addition to Kalinic, Milan would be in need to sing at least one second strikers.