What Stephan El Shaarawy's Monaco Move Means for AC Milan

He had only 24 hours to make a decision: AC Milan or AS Monaco. Stephan El Shaarawy chose the latter.

It all happened so quickly this past weekend. Monaco had been following the Little Pharaoh since January, according to Football Italia, but injuries postponed the move.

Still, El Shaarawy seemed like he was caught off guard.

“It all happened very quickly, and in 24 hours I found myself having to make a decision that I am certain can be the best for me and for my career,” he wrote on his Instagram account (h/t Football Italia).

Just a few weeks ago, in an interview with Sky (h/t Rossoneri Blog), he committed himself to the team. He believed in the project. He was ready to redeem himself.

Then something changed.

The offer was not exactly mammoth. In fact, in total, Milan will receive less than the initial €20 million sum that they paid to Genoa for El Shaarawy in 2011.

The deal with Monaco starts as a year-long loan at €3 million, according to Football Italia, with an option to buy him outright from Milan for a further €13 million if he makes 15 appearances for the Ligue 1 side.

It’s not the greatest business, but it’s a fresh start for both club and player.

El Shaarawy spent the last two seasons in and out of the lineup, out with injuries to both feet, and even when he was healthy he could not score or contribute on a regular basis.

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Stephan El Shaarawy: Has scored just 3 goals in his last 2236 minutes of action in Serie A; averaging a goal every 745.3 mins

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 13, 2015"

The club also ships out a player who may or may not amount to anything.

Right now, El Shaarawy is one of the biggest mysteries in football. His 16 Serie A goals in the 2012-13 season attracted all the eyes of Europe. At one point, he was worth as much as €40 million, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t ESPN FC). But injuries robbed him of his confidence, and his value plummeted.

It’s not surprising to see another young player leave Milan, much like Alexandre Pato, who had to leave the Rossoneri to restart his own career in Brazil. For whatever reason, injuries or not, the club has had lots of trouble developing their youth into full-fledged starters.

The fact is that Milan would rather cash in than wait. Their patience is thin. 

So yes, selling Shaarawy is yet another admission of failure on the part of the club as well as the player, who was a fan favourite and a crowd-pleaser despite his long absences.

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L’@AS_Monaco est heureuse d’annoncer l’arrivée de Stephan El Shaarawy​ ! #WelcomeToMonaco pic.twitter.com/qF9UocQLMc

— AS MONACO (@AS_Monaco) July 13, 2015"

Selling the 22-year-old also stokes the suspicion that perhaps Milan still don’t have the necessary funds to back their own transfers.

A total of €16 million is not a fortune, but it helps alleviate the €58 million that Milan have spent already on Andrea Bertolacci, Carlos Bacca and Luiz Adriano. Mr. Bee Taechaubol, the Thai investor who last month agreed to a period of exclusive negotiations with Milan, still has not completed the purchase of any shares, so this is very much money from Fininvest, Milan president Silvio Berlusconi’s holding company.

But El Shaarawy’s place in the starting lineup was not so certain anyway.

The arrivals of Bacca and Adriano immediately changed the look of the offence. Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic entertained the idea of moving El Shaarawy to the midfield, even though the Italian has solidified himself as a winger. He could have also played as the trequartista in Mihajlovic’s preferred 4-3-1-2 formation.

Now, that position belongs to Keisuke Honda—who wears the No. 10, after all—unless a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic makes a return to Milan.

It’s a sad end for a player with every chance of turning his career around. El Shaarawy is just 22 years old and will most likely play those necessary 15 games at Monaco to activate the buyout clause. He will play Champions League football and get the chance to test himself in a new league.

And yet, he is bringing a little bit of Milan to his new club: El Shaarawy will wear the No. 22 in honour of Kaka.