So much was expected of Milan in the January transfer window, especially after injuries took their toll, but Paolo Maldini and company largely stuck to their guns.

The Rossoneri saw their squad transformed in the mid-season window of 2020, when a 5-0 defeat to Atalanta prompted the arrival of Simon Kjaer and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

That sparked a revival under coach Stefano Pioli that would see them challenge for the Scudetto last season and qualify for the Champions League.

They were predicted to at least bring in a centre-back this Winter to replace Kjaer, who is out for the rest of the campaign with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Many names were linked, from Sven Botman of Lille to Torino star Bremer, Maxime Esteve of Montpellier or Jorge Cuenca at Getafe, but the club decided a new centre-back simply was not necessary.

After all, Fode Ballo-Toure should return from the Africa Cup of Nations soon, while Pierre Kalulu is proving himself adept in the middle as much as on the left flank.

January transfer window 2022: all the done deals in Serie A

Matteo Gabbia is 22 years old now and beyond what many would call a prospective youth, but he is a product of the Rossoneri academy and his presence is better publicity for Milan than some expensive potential flop.

A very clear decision was made, Milan would not spend for the sake of it, they would either find a genuine improvement to the current squad or just stick with it. Is this a decision they could regret come May?

In attack too, Pietro Pellegri interrupted his AS Monaco loan and moved to Torino, having barely set foot on the pitch in the Milan jersey.

With Ibrahimovic, Olivier Giroud and Ante Rebic repeatedly hit by injury problems, they seemingly needed fresh legs upfront.

However, 18-year-old Red Star Belgrade talent Marko Lazetic probably isn’t going to fill any of those gaps short-term, as the thinking was very much on the big picture going forward.

It’s true to say Milan are out of Europe now and therefore won’t have as packed a fixture list as the others in the title race, but it still feels like they’ve weakened rather than strengthened in January.

Andrea Conti was finally shipped out to Sampdoria after his doomed experience at San Siro, with third-choice goalkeeper Alessandro Plizzari loaned to Lecce.

One thought on “Milan transfer review: Missed opportunities”
  1. I’m glad they didn’t go for just any defender, as Kalulu is doing an amazing job and needs to play. So it was either someone strong like Botman or no one at all.

    But, Milan needed an attacking midfielder since the summer. We missed on signing one last summer and in January, and I just hope we won’t regret this decision at the end of the season.

    Diaz has had more than half a season to play at the level needed, and has failed. He had 6 or 7 good games at the start of the season, so barely enough. Even if he regains form, having competition will only do him good.

    Anyway, Milan not weakened though, just stayed the same.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector