Do AC Milan Have the Best Young Team in Europe Right Now?

One of the major difficulties many top-tier football clubs face is combining the need for short-term results with a sustainable strategy. It’s easy to lose sight of the long-term future when each weekend presents the expectation of another three points. In such circumstances, youth policy can become a mere afterthought. This is not the case with AC Milan, however.

The Rossoneri have endured a torrid three seasons. With no European competition, no silverware and no defined style of play, the club have fallen from the top of Serie A into the morass of mid-table. But there has been one shining light amid the overarching darkness: the progress of some potentially world-class young players.

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Over the years, Milan have spurned many a promising talent. Manchester United full-back Matteo Darmian and Borussia Dortmund goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are the two highest-profile examples of the club’s past developmental profligacy.

Those times are definitively in the past, though, and it could even be argued that the Rossoneri now have the finest selection of young players on the continent.

2015-16 was a season of underachievement. After a summer of heavy spending and the appointment of a new and respected head coach in Sinisa Mihajlovic, things looked rosy, but average results coupled with dull football culminated in the Serb’s dismissal in April.

Eventually, Milan finished in seventh place and lost in the Coppa Italia final to Juventus, leading to the hiring of Vincenzo Montella and the ushering in of a new era.

Mihajlovic’s tenure was forgettable, yet while for many his term in charge represented a failure, he did bring about one particularly positive change. He gave youth a chance, a decision that the club could benefit from in the years to come.

His most high-profile promotion came in the aftermath to a 1-1 draw away to Torino. Diego Lopez had conceded a soft equaliser at his near post to cap off a nervy start to the campaign, and he was dropped in favour of Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was just 16 years of age at the time.

The youngster made the goalkeeping position his own to justify Mihajlovic’s faith in him. Along the way, he established himself as one of the most exciting prospects in world football.

Donnarumma grew as a player in a short space of time, adding composure on the ball and in the air to his imposing physique and exceptional reactions. In some fixtures, such as Milan’s 2-1 defeat to Verona in late April, he was almost impossible to breach, producing save after save to keep his team in the game.

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When the 17-year-old shot-stopper came face-to-face with Gianluigi Buffon for the first time in competitive action, it was seen as a symbolic moment—almost a passing of the torch. And the Juventus and Italy icon didn’t hold back in praising a player who many see as his successor at national-team level.

“Donnarumma is doing great things as he hasn't shown any fear in taking on a stadium like San Siro, despite playing for a big team like Milan," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Goal's Stefan Coerts). “Along with showing great personality, he has great skills technically and physically. However, the thing I like most is that we are talking about a youngster who is doing all the right things, which is key in a career.”

Donnarumma’s fast rise from Primavera to the first team has been spectacular, but he isn’t the only teenage Rossonero to have shown quality that belies his tender age.

Davide Calabria first appeared in Milan’s first team as a substitute under Filippo Inzaghi’s auspices toward the end of the 2014-15 season, but last term he grew into a more prominent role within the squad as one of Mihajlovic’s primary full-back options.

The 19-year-old evinced strong attacking ability, with forward surges a vital component to his individual style. His pace and stamina only enhance his ability to offer a penetrative outlet down the right flank, and while his defensive nous is to be worked on, he appears to have what it takes to succeed the 29-year-old Ignazio Abate in future.

Calabria took the place of his more experienced team-mate for last season’s cup final against Juventus and thrived in what was a high-stakes match. That he was able to cope with the pressure spoke volumes about his mentality.

Manuel Locatelli had a comparably inauspicious beginning to life in Milan’s first team, with his full debut for the club nothing short of a minor disaster. This, however, can be pinned on Christian Brocchi, who saw fit to play the 18-year-old at the base of midfield against a rampant Roma side on Serie A’s final day last term.

The young regista couldn’t cope with the responsibility in such a difficult game, picking up a yellow card and earning a poor WhoScored.com rating of 6.14, though he is highly rated and clearly a sound technician.

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He played an important role for Italy’s under-19s in their run to the UEFA European Under-19 Championships this summer, scoring a free-kick in the group-stage draw with Austria and helping the team through to the competition’s final.

Locatelli could be joined in Milan’s future midfield by Niccolo Zanellato, who has enjoyed some game time this pre-season under Montella’s watch. The new coach evidently thinks highly of the 18-year-old, who so far has proved himself to be an able, hard-working box-to-box player.

The Rossoneri have simultaneously promoted from within and augmented the squad from outside, signing prospects from other clubs.

Twenty-one-year-old centre-back Alessio Romagnoli joined from Roma last summer for a fee of €25 million and has since become Milan’s defensive leader. As well as developing as an aerial force, he is an astute reader of games and his precise passing has become a staple of the team’s buildup play.

Dynamic 20-year-old midfield battler Jose Mauri arrived on a free from Parma in the same transfer window, and though he played infrequently during his debut campaign, he has shown rugged ball-winning skills and a desire to drive forward that could prove invaluable to the first team in years to come.

Versatile forward M’Baye Niang, also 21 years of age, signed in 2012 after breaking through at Caen. After an inconsistent beginning to life at the San Siro and a spell out on loan with Genoa in 2014-15, he was given his chance by Sinisa Mihajlovic last season. The Frenchman took it, scoring five goals and assisting four in 16 Serie A appearances.

And Milan’s glittering array of future stars doesn’t end there.

Outside of the already established are a number of hopefuls aiming to make their breakthrough in 2016-17, including defender Ivan De Santis and winger Luca Vido (both 19 years old), as well as central midfielder Mattia El Hilali and striker Patrick Cutrone (both 18). Notably, each of the former three has been afforded playing time this pre-season.

It is difficult to find another club in Europe who can rival Milan when it comes to their quality and quantity of youthful talent.

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Reigning Italian champions Juventus can call upon supremely gifted 22-year-olds in Paulo Dybala and Daniele Rugani, as well as 19-year-old playmaker Rolando Mandragora. However, there is a noticeable lack of homegrown youngsters within their ranks.

Away from the peninsula, perennial German Bundesliga challengers Borussia Dortmund have followed a similar model to the Bianconeri, buying in highly rated prospects such as Emre Mor (19), Ousmane Dembele (19) and Julian Weigl (20).

Barcelona’s famed La Masia continues to produce exciting results, with Munir El Haddadi (20) and Sergi Samper (21) the latest to graduate to the first team. There they have been interwoven with the likes of Samuel Umtiti and Denis Suarez (both 22), who were brought in from Lyon and Villarreal, respectively—the latter was a Barcelona player from 2013 to 2015, though.

What separates Milan from the rest, however, is their willingness to bring through youngsters. Despite the club’s poor run of results in recent years, they have not lost sight of the need for sustainability.

It is this foresight that ensures the future remains bright, however bleak the Rossoneri present may be.