Stephan El Shaarawy: Does AC Milan's Youngster Deserve a Big-Money Move?

Stephan El Shaarawy is in the news again—and this time it's for a positive reason.

El Shaarawy made his return to the starting XI for the first time since January and had a game that brought back memories of his breakout 2012-13 campaign.

It also saw the resurrection of rumors regarding a possible move away from the San Siro for Il Faraone.

In early April, Britain's Guardian reported that Arsenal is interested in bidding for the 22-year-old's services this summer.  It would be an interesting move considering Arsene Wenger already has Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexis Sanchez to call on from the wing.

Further talk came Wednesday when his brother and agent Manuel told Sky Italia (h/t the Daily Mail) that he wanted to see Stephan play abroad at some point, mentioning the Premier League in particular.

El Shaarawy would certainly be an infusion of talent to the Gunners roster, but the prospect of such a move brings up another interesting question: Has El Shaarawy done enough to rate a big-money move?

By now the story of Stephan El Shaarawy is well-told in Italy.  Milan saw the potential in the youngster from Geona's youth program and snagged him in the summer of 2011.  After impressing in limited minutes that season, he was forced into the starting lineup following the 2012 sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

He very quickly exploded.  He finished the first half of the season with 14 goals, keeping Milan afloat during a disastrous start.  He also contributed a pair of goals in the Champions League, getting the team through to the knockout stage.

It was here, however, that he sputtered to a stop.  He was only 20 that season and had never experienced a top-flight season as a full-time starter.  Adding a European schedule only exacerbated the toll being exacted on his body.

After the winter break, his scoring streak ended.  He had a few impressive performances, including the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Barcelona, where he selflessly dropped so deep into his own half to close Messi & Co. down that he looked like a second full-back.

But the goals dried up.  He scored only three times after the winter break ended.  The first was in the Coppa Italia quarters against Juventus, the second against Atalanta later in January and the last was an equalizer in the Derby della Madonnina that March.

Fortunately for Milan, Mario Balotelli arrived and went on an absolute tear at the same time El Sha dropped off, and they completed an unlikely run to third place and a return to the Champions League.

Mario Carlini / Iguana Press/Getty Images

The next season, he hardly played after an early-season foot injury.  He scored a single goal, in the team's Champions League playoff round win against Ajax, but only played eight times in the league.

He came out quickly this season with an assist in Milan's opener against Lazio but eventually injuries again set in, and he sat out from the end of January until Milan's loss to Sassuolo two weeks ago.

There have been a lot of questions as to whether or not he can ever regain the form he had in the first half of the 2012-13 season.  This column dealt with just that question early last month, when the youngster was still on the shelf.  That article argued that if he could stay on the field, he could indeed do just that, and the Torino game may be proof.

Both of his goals were perfectly taken.  His first came on a feed from Christian Zaccardo.  He took the ball just to the left of the spot, controlled perfectly with one touch and then fired a laser past Daniele Padelli for the game's opener.

In the 65th minute, he sensed an opening in the Torino defense and played a one-two with Marco Van Ginkel, moving immediately into the vacant lot in Padelli's penalty area.  He corralled the ball with one touch and fired a pinpoint strike past the flailing keeper.

The question going into the transfer window is whether the 22-year-old has shown enough to merit a big-money move to a high-level team.

Putting aside the weirdness one feels when talking about a Milan player leaving to go to a "big" club, it merits consideration, whether a half-season of fantastic work and a good-looking cameo are enough to justify a team making a big-money move for him?

The Guardian story put Arsenal's potential bid at £11.8 million—a shade under €16 million.  That's a lot of money for a player who, while talented, has barely seen the field in the last two years and has only put in half a season of consistent top-level play.

Milan doesn't have much incentive to sell El Shaarawy.  He's a low-wage option with tons of upside that could be a huge asset in the rebuilding of the club—if he can keep the injury bug away.  That said, that much money would be difficult for them to turn down.

But will it be money well spent?  Obviously it would be a question for the future, but if a team makes that much of an outlay for an injury-prone player with only four months of top-level production and he continues to sit on the sidelines, heads could roll.

El Sha is still very young and full of potential, but until he plays another full season, he is just that—potential.  If a team wants to shell out a ton of money, that's their prerogative.  But they'll be doing it at extreme risk.  In a year we may be singing a different tune, but for now Il Faraone is too big a risk to merit big money from a big club.