Serie A: Can AC Milan defend the Scudetto? Little investment in reinforcements, Rossoneri face a very tough fight

Fans will finally get to see it, finally! The new edition of the Italian Serie A kicks off this weekend, and the new season promises to be a very attractive spectacle. Three teams could be in the title fight and AC Milan is one of them. However, the Rossoneri have not yet strengthened as originally planned. The duel with Inter and Juventus will be extremely difficult.

The executive team

Probably the most important news is the change of ownership. At the beginning of the summer it was already clear that the Italian club would be taken over by RedBird Capital Partners, which has big plans for AC. The clearest one is to make AC Milan a global giant again.

However, despite the original plan, the management has not yet invested in reinforcements. In fact, the new owners have only released around 45 million euros to Frederico Massaro and Paolo Maldini for transfers. And that’s really not enough for a club that dominated the top Italian league. No wonder then that the fans were upset by this decision, because it is the complete opposite of satisfaction.

Massara and Maldini, however, are very good with a low budget and their decision to bring in reinforcements, especially last season, was one of the factors that helped AC reach the top.

However, another aspect was Stefano Pioli himself, who is an absolutely ideal coach in terms of achieving success. He is respected in the cabin, the players work 100% under him and he also has a great eye for selecting reinforcements.

Goalkeeper

Just like last season, the AC Milan goalkeeper will be guarded by Mike Maignan, who held the Rossoneri in incredible fashion last season and was an absolute security for the AC defensive line. The 27-year-old Cayenne native transferred to AC Milan from Lille in 2021 and is under contract until 2026.

Last season in AC colours, he started 32 league games, keeping a clean sheet in 17 of them.

Defence

The defence is an area where AC Milan do not need to strengthen significantly. Theo Hernández, who developed into one of the best left-backs in the world last season and has great individual skills, will be back on the left flank. An absolutely key man on the defence path.

Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu will probably form the stopper duo in the new edition as well. After the injuries to Romagnoli and Kjaer, it was in fact these two runners in whom Pioli saw the potential to form an impenetrable defensive pairing.

And they did. After all, AC’s parade of defensive work is documented by the fact that the Rossoneri conceded only five times from February to May, and therefore until the end of the season. Davide Calabria and Alessandro Florenzi are likely to reprise their roles at right-back.

Backup

AC Milan’s biggest sore spot at the end of last season. The left wingback position is very well represented, and Rafael Leao should be the absolute star in the new season as well. The 23-year-old Portuguese netted 11 goals and assisted 10 more in the 2021/22 season. His substitute was Ante Rebic, who can also fill in in attack.

But the problem was the centre of midfield, which was the Rossoneri’s most poorly manned position. That is, up front. AC’s Franck Kessié left the squad, but he was not so useful in terms of offensive activity. Rade Krunic is also more defensively minded, Ismaël Bennacer is no outright playmaker.

However, Brahim Díaz looked very good in the first half of last season’s Serie A campaign and Charles de Ketelaere is a big boost with regard to the offensive activity of the midfield. The twenty-one year old big talent was brought in by AC from Bruges for €32 million, scoring 14 goals and 7 assists last season.

So a lot will depend on how coach Pioli throws the lineup around. The key man in the midfield was Sandro Tonali, whom the Rossoneri kept without much difficulty. Tommaso Pobega, who returns to the San Siro from Torino where he played 33 league games, could also be an interesting player.

AC have another Belgian, Alexis Saelemaekers, and Júnior Messias at right wing-back. Both, however, lost their form significantly at the end of last season.

Attack

Olivier Giroud, Divock Origi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. That’s the trio of main strikers who will take care of the most important thing in the new season – goals. The latter came to AC for free from Liverpool, the Swedish legend in turn takes Milan as his home and also has a big influence on the Rossoneri’s cabin.

Although Giroud struggled shooting in several games last season, he often proved to be a very valid striker in key moments. The 35-year-old Frenchman scored 11 goals in the previous season and was involved in four others as an assistant.

Ideal line-up:

Maignan
Calabria – Kalulu – Tomori – Theo
Bennacer – Tonali
De Ketelaere – Díaz – Leao
Giroud

Positioning tip:: 2nd place

Sources: AC Milan, Serie A