4 Reasons to Believe AC Milan Can Compete for the Top Three Next Season

The reality at AC Milan is that they will not be competing for the Scudetto in the immediate future. This is going to take a little bit of time.

But already they look better than they did last year. The arrival of Andrea Bertolacci and the imminent signing of Carlos Bacca from Sevilla, as per the club’s official website, is a good omen.

That’s already about €50 million spent during the transfer window, if you account for Bertolacci's €20 million tag and Bacca's €30 million release clause.

To his credit, Milan CEO Adriano Galliani has responded well to early setbacks in the market, losing out on Geoffrey Kondogbia and Jackson Martinez, and the moves for Bertolacci and Bacca seem to answer questions about the money available to the club.

The Rossoneri, too, have hired an experienced coach with an established philosophy—something Milan have not really had for years. Players from the old era are leaving, and there’s room for a new one to start.

Let’s take a look at the foremost reasons why Milan will pose a greater challenge in Serie A next season.

New Coach, New System

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Sinisa Mihajlovic is a bold coach, and he knows what he wants. That’s the way he played in Serie A, and that’s the way he coaches. It’s perfect for Milan, a team struggling for leadership in any capacity. Mihajlovic will turn the dressing room upside-down.

He usually plays with a 4-3-1-2 formation, and if his time at Sampdoria tells us anything, it’s that Mihajlovic loves to propel his team forward. In one match against Lazio, it was Mihajlovic who positioned every outfield Sampdoria player on the halfway line to kick off the game. Again, bold, even if they eventually lost that game.

Mihajlovic was also unafraid of dealing with a star champion like Samuel Eto’o, sitting him on the bench and forcing him to play at right-back (like he did for Inter in the Champions League).

“I don’t fake anything with my players,” Mihajlovic told La Gazzetta dello Sport in March (h/t Football Italia). “I speak clearly and ask for the rules to be respected, but I also know how to joke around with my lads. I did play football for a few years, so I know the mentality.”

Lifting Dead Weight

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The process has begun. Milan had one of the heftiest wage bills in Serie A last year, and now was time to allow some players to leave.

Sulley Muntari recently terminated his contract with the Rossoneri, to the joy of many Milan fans, as he “realised he wasn’t part of their plans,” his agent told Milan Channel (h/t Football Italia). In reality, though, Muntari did little to convince anyone of his spot on the team. He threw tantrums on the bench, flew into dangerous tackles and took outrageous shots.

But Muntari isn’t the only one to depart. Milan are reportedly trying to convince Antonio Nocerino to rescind his contract, according to the Serie A Twitter account.

Meanwhile, Daniele Bonera, whose contract with Milan expired on Wednesday, will most likely sign elsewhere, per MilanNews (h/t Football Italia), as well as Giampaolo Pazzini and the underused Didac Vila.

There is definitely an effort here to move on from past failures. In fact, if Nocerino does move, Milan will only have two remaining players from the team that won the Scudetto in 2011 (Ignazio Abate and Christian Abbiati, who signed a one-year extension).

Better Signings

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Bertolacci and Bacca bring some more quality to the Milan midfield and attack. Bertolacci is an impressive prospect with a creative edge, and Bacca is a solid poacher who has climbed the ranks of football and proved himself at a high level. It was Bacca who scored twice in the Europa League final to give Sevilla their second-straight title in the competition.

They both give the starting XI a little more of a menacing look in the present, but they are also long-term signings. Bertolacci is just 24, and Bacca is a bit of a late bloomer at 28 years old.

And there is time to sign more.

Fresh Start

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The new season, of course, allows starters like Stephan El Shaarawy, Riccardo Montolivo and Mattia De Sciglio the opportunity to start anew. All three players struggled with injuries and form over the past year, and they badly need a good stretch of games to win back fans.

El Shaarawy ended the season with a brace against Torino, showing a hint of the player that scored 16 times in the 2012-13 Serie A campaign. But he has not been able to string together games, just as Montolivo has missed many matches with his own injury problems. De Sciglio, on the other hand, just had a rough year, earning two red cards and falling to the bench. 

A bunch of new signings, along with a new coach, should drive all three to put their recent troubles behind them.