The appointment of Paulo Fonseca didn’t work out, it was pretty obvious he was doomed after the first few games. He has since been sacked and replaced by fellow Portuguese boss Sérgio Conceição, with the club seriously backing him in the January transfer window.
By Alex Roberts
Led by ‘senior advisor’ Zlatan Ibrahimović, AC Milan signed a massive six players, addressing several problem positions in what has to be regarded as one of the more interesting winter windows in Europe.
Milan recognised what they needed and acted. With Davide Calabria out of contract at the end of the season, and no real sign of him signing a new deal, a right-back was required, even if it was temporary.
Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze had fallen out of favour after failing to establish themselves as regular starters or make any genuine impact coming off the bench, so a reshuffle at the top end of the pitch was in order.
Finally, central midfield. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is still on the books but he doesn’t start as many games as he’s probably like. Ismaël Bennacer had fallen down the pecking order and was shipped off to Marseille on loan.
Tijjani Reijnders and Youssouf Fofana have proven themselves over and over again, but outside of those two, depth in the centre of the park was needed. Should either of those two pick up an injury, it would be a worry.
The most high-profile signing was João Félix’s loan move from Chelsea. Milan saw that he was struggling for minutes in West London, although that was no fault of his own, it’s hard to get in ahead of Cole Palmer at the moment.
Félix is 25 now. In normal human terms, he’s still a kid, but football isn’t for normal humans, and the playmaker is running out of time if he’s hoping to find a home after unsuccessful spells at Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, and now Chelsea.
It didn’t take long for him to make an impression, coming off the bench to bag a debut goal in their 3-1 Coppa Italia quarter-final win over Roma, and impressing again in his first start, helping ten-men Milan beat Empoli 2-0.
He’s probably not even unpacked yet and he’s already going on about staying at the club beyond the end of the season. It took him six months to realise Cheslea aren’t the club for him, and, honestly, who can blame him.
One of the most interesting things to happen at AC Milan in recent years is their dipping into the English market. Fikayo Tomori, Loftus-Cheek, and Tammy Abraham have now been joined by veteran right-back Kyle Walker.
It was the right time for Walker to leave City, he could no longer keep up with the pace of the Premier League, and his relationship with the fans was starting to turn toxic despite all he had helped the club achieve over his seven and a half seasons in Manchester.
Walker was thrown in at the deep end, making his debut against arch-rivals Inter. All that did though was prove the England international is a damn good swimmer, taking to one of the biggest games in Europe like a duck to water.
He’s played every minute for Milan since joining, his experience on football’s biggest stage has already proven to be invaluable. There is reportedly an option to buy in his loan contract, he may not be a long-term solution, but temporary ones don’t get much better.
Okafor joined Napoli on loan, leaving a big ol’ gap in the number nine position. The Switzerland international never really took his chance at the San Siro by the scruff of the neck, so Milan went out and got the Eredivisie’s best striker.
Santiago Giménez had been prolific for Feyenoord, scoring 16 goals and providing three assists in his 19 games for the Dutch giants in the first half of the season. Like Félix, Giménez made an almost immediate impression.
He didn’t score on his debut, but he did provide the assist for Félix to score on his. The Mexican then scored in his second game, coming off the bench to secure the the win over Empoli, cutting inside to curl past the ‘keeper.
Giménez made an unhappy return to his old stomping ground in Milan’s Champions League play-off first leg against Feyenoord, losing 1-0. Thankfully they have a game at the San Siro to fix it.
Milan haven’t had a certified bagsman since Ibrahimović, Olivier Giroud was their top goal scorer when they won the 2021-22 title with just 11 league goals. If his time in the Netherlands is anything to go by, Giménez has the ability to get a lot more than that.
Warren Bondo was chosen as Milan’s Bennacer replacement, snatching the young Frenchman away from Monza. A box-to-box midfielder with bags of energy, Bondo not only has the potential to be a future superstar, but he could also provide more than adequate cover.
He’s yet to make his Milan debut, but since he only joined on deadline day, that’s not something that should be read into. Expect to see a lot of Bondo in that famous red and black soon.
Finally, two loans from fellow Serie A clubs round off Milan’s incomings. Both Nicola Zalewski and Riccardo Sottil joined from Roma and Fiorentina respectively. They’re unlikely to be nothing more than squad options, for now at least, but that’s exactly what Milan needed. They’re both relatively young with bags of Serie A experience. It’s smart business.
Milan are no longer the club they used to be, they’re not as prominent in Europe or domestically as they once were. This January proved one thing, however, they want to hang out with the big boys once again.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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