When you look at the AC Milan squad and you check out the Serie A table, you can identify that the Rossoneri’s defence is one of their main weaknesses.

Only Sassuolo have conceded more than Milan’s fourteen goals in the league’s top ten teams, so far this season.

Captain Alessio Romagnoli is still the side’s best centre half but even he’s looked nervy at times in the backline this term. He’d probably prefer to play with a more reliable partner, than those he’s played beside during this current campaign.

Summer signing Mattia Caldara hasn’t made his league debut for Milan yet, due to injury problems, and club boss Rino Gattuso has stated he won’t be back within the next two months:

 “We’re going to lose Caldara for a couple of months. He had a problem with the medial ligament, it’s a cursed season for him, really disappointing for the lad,”

Colombian defender Cristian Zapata is past his peak years. The veteran thirty-two year old has also missed the first month of the season due to injury and he’s probably better off being the club’s back-up centre back rather than an automatic starter.

The other recognised central defender is Mateo Musacchio hasn’t been overly convincing at the back since his arrival from Villarreal in 2017. The fact he lost his place to Zapata, when the Colombian returned to fitness, shows that Gattuso isn’t convinced by Argentine. He looks particularly vulnerable in the air.

Recent news reports have linked the Milanese giants with a move for Manchester United centre back Eric Bailly.

Personally, I think the Ivorian is still one of United’s best defenders along with Chris Smalling. Unfortunately for Bailly, Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho seems to have lost all faith in Eric. The defender has had injury problems during his spell at Old Trafford but he’s been fit for most of this season, yet he’s ultimately spent most of his time out of the first team picture.

For me, Bailly will need to leave Man United in January if he can’t get back in the starting line-up before the Christmas period. He’s a player that needs more game time to get back up to speed and get some renewed belief.

I think that once Bailly is playing with confidence again, a team would be getting a terrific centre-back. He’s still only twenty-four years of age. He possess terrific pace and he’s also comfortable with the ball at his feet, meaning he can dribble it or pass it out of defence. His passing success rate is averaging above 89% in the Premier League this term.

Defensively he’s at his strongest when he’s able to show his intelligence in snuffing out interceptions. During his debut year in England, he was winning around 2.4 interceptions per English top flight appearance.

Interestingly, AC Milan have been linked with a managerial move that will see Arsene Wenger replacing Gattuso as the club’s head coach in early 2019. I Rossoneri have recently appointed former Arsenal Chief Exec Ivan Gazidis. as their new CEO. Now why is this all interesting? Well when it was first reported that Bailly could be available for transfer, one team credited with an interest were The Gunners.

I believe if Milan could sign Eric Bailly in January, they’d get a superbly talented defender who would be determined to prove himself at a new club. If he could then find a good working partnership with Alessio Romagnoli then it could give Il Diavolo the foundations in which they could potentially build a tilt towards finishing the season in the Champions League places!

Posted on November 6th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article