1 Summer Transfer Rumour AC Milan Fans Do Not Want to Come True

The crown jewel of AC Milan’s youth movement has left the club for good, and it’s the fans’ worst fears coming true.

Riccardo Saponara hardly played with the Rossoneri since joining them in 2013. When he was, he was used out of position, deeper in midfield and not in his more favourable attacking role.

So he went on loan to Empoli, the club of his formative years, and he started scoring—with more confidence and playing time.

Saponara had seven goals and three assists in 17 consecutive starts with the Tuscan club this year, prompting Empoli to activate a clause to buy out Saponara for a further €4 million, per Football Italia.

Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

To let him slip away so easily is merely confirmation that a project does not and never did exist at Milan.

The pain does not end there: Saponara has already been the subject of a €15 million bid from Napoli, according to Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia), and is now of interest to Juventus, according to Tuttomercatoweb.com.

Milan have allowed him the opportunity to join a rival club, and that’s a cardinal sin. Milan’s mistake could be Juve’s blessing.

When they signed Saponara, there was some hope of a plan: Go cheaper but younger.

He cost the Rossoneri just €4 million, per ESPNFC, despite being one of the best prospects in Italy.

“Saponara is certainly a player that fits in with the policy of focusing on youth that Milan are taking,” Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani told Sky Italia at the time (h/t ESPNFC).

But he was sidelined, forced to watch Kaka and Jeremy Menez take his spot on the field. They let him fester on the bench. No promises kept. Saponara left and immediately showed the skill on the ball and in the penalty area that Milan simply did not see.

It’s made it impossible for fans to trust Milan.

"

How can you trust a mgmt who has talked about a youth movement for yrs, then sells Cristante, Saponara never played, then signs Muntari? -GC

— AC Milan Club NYC (@ACMilanNYC) June 21, 2015"

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If Saponara goes to Inter or Juventus, even Roma for that matter, I am going to lose all faith in Milan

— Rossella Marrai (@RossellaMarrai) June 23, 2015"

The constant carousel of youth players at Milan does not do anything more to restore the belief of fans. They are indeed going after another young midfielder, Jose Mauri, according to Gianluca Di Marzio’s website.

Mauri, 19, has been released from his contract at Parma after they were declared bankrupt. He is a free transfer, a Milan speciality, but one young prospect does not suddenly make up for many lost ones.

What’s to say Mauri will get the playing time and support Saponara never received? New coach Sinisa Mihajlovic is more forgiving to youngsters having fostered the talent of Manolo Gabbiadini, Roberto Soriano and Luis Muriel at Sampdoria last season.

But the fact remains that Milan have a poor track record when it comes to their supposed youth movement. The club moved quickly to snatch Suso from Liverpool in January, only to play five times the remainder of the Serie A campaign.

Suso will stay, his agent told MilanNews (h/t Calciomercato), in spite of everything. Milan also have some deserving of a chance from the primavera squad: youth team captain Andrea Mastalli, Bolivia’s highly rated 18-year-old midfielder Sebastian Gamarra and, of course, the 17-year-old prodigy Hachim Mastour.

Milan have the youth to make up for Saponara, but he is a cautionary tale that may come true for others if the Rossoneri continue to ignore and disrespect the future.