Mistakes, misfortune and opportunities: Milan’s never-ending search for midfield alchemy

Going into the summer transfer window, fixing the midfield department was top of the to-do list for many AC Milan fans, and presumably the management too.

Milan’s defensive record was the big issue in 2023-24, but the feeling was that it partly stemmed from a team that was left far too open in transition due to a lack of balance in the midfield and the absence of a more defensive presence.

Thus, when planning for life under the new head coach Paulo Fonseca the talk of a ‘midfield rebuild’ no doubt reverberated around the walls of Casa Milan. There were many targets linked from day one of the summer, though on the flip side there were current squad members who were cast aside.

So, just where does Milan’s midfield stand now that the window is over, three games have been played and there has been some good and bad news since?

A monumental farce

We have to start with the most obvious talking point: Ismael Bennacer’s situation. Rewinding back to the start of the summer, there were doubts about his spot in Fonseca’s ‘new Milan’ because of reported interest from Saudi Arabia and the club’s desire to listen to some offers.

No bids were forthcoming and thus the former Empoli man headed out to the United States for the preseason tour. As the games went by and as the first match of the season approached, it actually seemed as though he was nailed on to stay.

Indeed, the Algerian midfielder ended up remaining with the Rossoneri and was even included in the UEFA squad list for the first part of the Champions League too, but all after an ending to the window that had everyone on edge.

In addition to the strong interest of a Saudi club that lasted practically the entire summer, Atletico Madrid and Marseille enquired about a loan on deadline day, but in the end an agreement was not reached as Milan wanted to sell him permanently.

He did not train for a few days at Milanello and it was not because of injury but rather because of the interest from other clubs. He did not even participate in the trip to face Lazio, officially due to gastroenteritis but he had trained the day before.

Milan’s management of Bennacer’s situation was such that Fonseca and the staff faced the task of having to re-motivate him from a psychological point of view, having dragged him back in from the scrapheap they put him on.

Nonetheless, there are many games to play in a crowded schedule and therefore it was in everyone’s interest to get the best version of Bennacer. Then, over the international break, Murphy’s law struck.

While on a training camp with his national team, Bennacer suffered a grade three calf injury that is expected to sideline him for at least two months. It could be even longer with tests yet to be conducted by Milan’s medical staff.

Since December 2020, the 26-year-old has missed over 400 days due to injuries, though admittedly a large part of that comes from the serious knee injury suffered in the Champions League against Inter which sidelined him for almost a year.

In that time, he has missed 65 matches for several different reasons. Twice he has had hamstring problems, ankle and abductor issues once each, and he has had two operations: one on his foot, and the other for his aforementioned hamstring injury.

Perhaps that injury record alone is enough to see why clubs didn’t come in with permanent bids, yet following the Bennacer saga throughout the summer offered strong suggestions that the management never really knew what they wanted to do with him.

An incomplete jigsaw

With the way that football is today and the constantly looming shadow of Financial Fair Play, directors can be judged just as much for the sales that they complete as the signings that they make, especially for Serie A clubs where player trading is so important.

As mentioned at the start of the article, Milan needed to offload some bodies in the midfield that were not deemed part of Fonseca’s plans, with two above all standing out: Tommaso Pobega and Yacine Adli.

Granted, it was not expected that half of Europe would be picking up the phone to ring Geoffrey Moncada and begin negotiations for either player, given each have struggled for regular minutes in the last two seasons and have shown their limitations.

However, the end result is far from ideal. Pobega ended up joining Bologna on loan with an option to buy, while Adli went to Fiorentina via the same formula and made an instant impact with an assist on his debut.

What this means is that the Rossoneri did indeed manage to ‘trim the fat’ off the midfield department and yet at the same time they have sent two players to clubs with European aspirations without getting any guaranteed cash in return. The Alexis Saelemaekers situation could therefore repeat itself.

Then there are the players that were spoken about that never arrived, and again it is two names that stood out above all of the rest in the newspaper columns: the French duo Manu Kone and Adrien Rabiot.

Kone is a player that Moncada is known to have been a fan on since at least 2021 when he was at Toulouse, and he made it known he wanted to leave Borussia Monchengladbach at the beginning of the summer so an opportunity presented itself.

Milan’s acceleration for the 23-year-old came right at the end of the mercato and was dependant on Bennacer’s exit. A one-in one-out policy is understandable when Youssouf Fofana had already arrived, yet there must also be question marks about whether signing Kone and figuring out the UEFA squad list issue on the fly was a better option because it may have forced other issues.

Then there is the Rabiot saga, which was confusing to say the least. The generally accepted version of events based on numerous reliable sources is that Milan began talks earlier in the summer when his exit from Juventus was confirmed, and then they tried again later on as we reported, again when Bennacer seemed more likely to leave.

The former PSG man remains a free agent and yet the Diavolo are no longer considered in the mix, all seemingly because they learned of his demands being too high. Was that not the case two months prior as well?

There are very few complains about the signing of Fofana, but all of the aforementioned has fans questioning if he is enough to address the balance alone. The evidence of the first three games (granted, he has only started one) suggests not.

The continued use of the double pivot and if anything the even more attacking deployment of the 4-2-3-1 with a pure playmaker has produced the same worrying signs: the various departments stretched a long way apart, plenty of counter-attacks conceded and the feeling that any time the ball is given away it could be fatal.

The chance to shine

Bennacer’s injury and Fonseca’s search for a winning formula in midfield could well present a massive opportunity to various players, starting with those who should quite obviously be considered like Yunus Musah.

The American was used in various different roles under Stefano Pioli which cannot have helped his search for consistency to aid his development. A potential gap in the double pivot is something that he should really be targeting, if he can learn a bit more positional discipline.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been used by Fonseca in the tandem in front of the defence already, before being shifted further forward to act as a ‘balancer’, just as Pioli did. He and Fofana could form a pairing which would guarantee a lot of muscle and the constant desire to advance the ball by pass or dribble.

What might the other solutions be? As strange as it might sound, the way to adapt to losing a midfielder might be to add another to the starting XI, and to try establish some balance by playing a three-man midfield rather than a double pivot.

Pundits and supporters far and wide have been crying out for Fonseca to add an extra body that can shield the defence. On paper, having Fofana deeper between two mezzala-type players such as Reijnders and Musah/Loftus-Cheek more resembles round pegs in round holes.

An attacking midfielder is not a luxury Milan can afford after six goals conceded in six games. Forget the change to a three-man midfield, there could even be an argument that adding an extra centre-back – as Pioli did to great effect in the crisis of early 23 – is required to stop the bleeding.

Then there are the ‘wild card’ solutions, starting with Silvano Vos. He was a €5m (including bonuses) summer signing from Ajax and made a very impressive debut for Milan Futuro, and at 19 years of age he already has nearly 20 senior games under his belt, including in European competitions.

Is ready for the jump after a good 45 minutes in Serie C? Logic says no, yet it is from emergencies that surprises can emerge. Vos is undoubtedly a talent with a big personality and this might be just the challenge he needs.

Kevin Zeroli is another player who seems to have the shoulders to potentially take on the task. He was the Primavera captain last season and has graduated to wear the armband for the Futuro, so he has leadership qualities, and after being on the cusp of the first team for a couple of years now this may well be the sliding doors moment.

There are some inherent risks with promoting teenagers though that do not need a detailed analysis, but essentially they entail an instant pressure to perform at a much higher level and also limited opportunities, presuming Bennacer wasn’t going to start much before his injury.

Where things stand

Like many issues at the club currently, there are more questions than answers regarding Milan’s midfield. Last season showed how important retooling the midfield would be, and that doesn’t just mean going out and signing five players, it is about making use of the resources present.

Yet, at present, Fonseca seems likely to persist with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Fofana being the only change in the middle. It feels a bit like ‘definition of insanity’ stuff, i.e. trying the same things repeatedly and expecting different outcomes.

It puts a lot of pressure on the Frenchman, while any change of heart regarding Rabiot could also be construed as panic, especially given that he now cannot be registered for the Champions League squad list. Thus, Milan are stuck with what they have and a long injury has taken some of that away.

Fonseca is in a position of having to experiment to find the right formula. The options are there, but finding that perfect alchemy could come at the expense of valuable time and points.