A Progress Report on 5 Key AC Milan Players Who Are out on Loan
As AC Milan's season limps to a close, one continuous complaint from fans is the quality of its roster.
As Milan has become more and more financially austere over the years, they have papered over the cracks with veteran players. Some, like Jeremy Menez, have had a decent impact on the team and didn't cost all that much, if anything at all. Others, like Michael Essien, have been catastrophic wastes of space and wage money.
If Milan are to rise from their ashes, they're going to need to do something that they've had problems doing in recent years—rely heavily on young players. Youngsters who could have made important contributions this year have been overlooked (Riccardo Saponara) or sold (Bryan Cristante), but Milan still has an impressive stable of young talent that can help turn the moribund team around.
Milan has a number of players out on loan this year, both veterans they were unable to sell and young players loaned out to get more experience. Today we'll be focusing on the latter category and check on the progress of five youngsters who could, in the near future, help Milan bounce back and regain their customary place in the upper regions of the Serie A table.
Andrea Petagna
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Andrea Petagna is a ways away from becoming a major part of Milan's setup. At 19 years old, he still needs time to hone his skills at lower levels.
Petagna was loaned to Sampdoria two years ago but barely ever saw the field. He has been on two different loan spells this season, to Latina and Vicenza, and has similarly seen little of the field. Whoscored.com clocks him at 20 total games in Serie B and only one goal to his name.
Despite this relative lack of success, Petagna has been capped at every junior level of the national team up to U19, and his age means that he has plenty of space for development.
He is certainly not going to be ready for the Rossoneri next season, but his progress should be tracked. He's the kind of battering-ram forward that most people consider obsolete but in reality every team needs. It will be imperative for him to have a stable situation in which to play next season in order to truly blossom.
M'Baye Niang
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When most Milan fans think of M'Baye Niang, they think unhappy thoughts.
Eighteen years old at the time of Milan's round-of-16 clash with Barcelona in the 2012-13 Champions League, he was presented with a daunting task. Mario Balotelli was cup-tied, and Giampaolo Pazzini had been injured the weekend before the second leg, pressing the teenager into the starting lineup against Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
Milan carried a surprising 2-0 lead into the return, but Lionel Messi quickly evened things out. On the stroke of halftime, Niang was put clean through on Pepe Reina. An away goal would have totally changed the face of the tie, but the young Frenchman slammed the ball flush against the post. Barca ended up winning the game 4-0 and the tie 4-2.
After hardly featuring at all last season, he was loaned to Montpellier for the second half of the season. This season again saw his time on the field limited, and he was farmed out to Genoa in the January transfer window.
In the middle of February, he went on a mini-tear, scoring three goals and notching an assist. The counting stats haven't come in that kind of quantity since, but he's put in good performances and generally looked dangerous coming off the wing and from a central position.
He served his parent club notice at the end of April, scoring a goal and registering an assist in Genoa's 3-1 thrashing of the Rossoneri.
Milan needs some help up front in general and may need reinforcements anyway. A report last week from Sky (h/t Football Italia) says that Monaco is interested in bringing the Frenchman back into the fold. Given the fact that Milan has been clicking better in attack while Menez has been suspended and the fact that he came in on a free transfer, the right sum might tempt Adriano Galliani to sell.
That would leave a huge hold on the wing which Niang could fill immediately. He'll likely find himself in a more advantageous position at Milan next season.
Simone Verdi
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Simone Verdi is a dying breed—a player who is both co-owned and loaned out at the same time.
The attacking midfielder has been jointly owned between Milan and Torino for the last two years. Both teams have agreed to loan him out to Empoli the last two seasons, but the elimination of co-ownership in Italy means that come the summer, only one team will get to decide his fate this year.
It may behoove the Rossoneri to resolve that co-ownership in their own favor. Verdi has played well in 17 starts, and according to WhoScored.com, he has averaged a key pass per game for Maurizio Sarri's scrappy side.
The midfield is where Milan need major help. Riccardo Montolivo has been injured for much of the year and hasn't been particularly effective since signing from Fiorentina when he has been healthy. Nigel de Jong is likely to leave the team next year, and Andrea Poli is more industrious than he is creative. The team needs a creative aspect to midfield, and Verdi could be that man.
The 22-year old could be a major part of the future, but Torino—who have likely been emboldened by their Europa League run this year to make their team even better—will also have a say here.
Riccardo Saponara
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Riccardo Saponara should not be at Empoli right now. He should be at Milan playing a significant role in the midfield. In his one game he did play for Milan this season, he gave one of the best individual performances of anyone at the club this season.
But, just as it has been since Saponara first arrived at Milan at the beginning of last season, he was progressively ignored while players like Sulley Muntari and Michael Essien started.
In January, he returned to his boyhood club, and with regular playing time, he blossomed. He's scored six goals in 14 games and added three assists. In doing so, he's reaffirmed the his status as one of the most promising young midfielders in the country.
Unfortunately for Milan, they aren't in a position to decide this promising young player's fate. When Saponara's loan was arranged in January, it included an option for Empoli to purchase him outright at the end of the season.
This could be an epic bungle on the part of Adriano Galliani. If Milan loses him, they'll lose a player who could have been a bedrock of the team's rebuilding process.
Gabriel
5 of 5Purchased from Brazilian club Cruzeiro in 2012 as a potential successor for Christian Abbiati, Gabriel made seven appearances in a Milan shirt last season. This summer, they decided that while the aging Abbiati was no longer starter-quality, Gabriel wasn't ready for prime time yet. With that in mind, they acquired Diego Lopez from Real Madrid and loaned the 22-year-old Brazilian to Carpi.
It's difficult to come by goalkeeping statistics, even more so when the player in question isn't playing in the top tier. The most we can get is from Goal.com, which tells us nothing more than the fact that he's played 36 games. Because of that, it really comes down to team statistics and the eye test to discern how well he's done.
The most obvious thing to see is that Carpi, a team that arrived in Serie B for the first time only a season ago, is winning the Italian second division going away. Their move to Serie A is going to be their fourth promotion in six seasons, a remarkable accomplishment.
Gabriel has obviously made a contribution. He has, as the above video shows, made some impressive saves and has marshaled a defense that has conceded only 26 goals in 40 games. To put that in perspective, Juventus has allowed 20 in 35.
The youngster has certainly shown some of the promise that caused Milan to buy him in the first place. He is likely going out on loan again next season—possibly staying at Carpi for their Serie A debut. If he performs well next year, Milan might be able to cash in on Lopez to accelerate their rebuild and install the Brazilian as their No. 1.
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