Antonio Cassano To Join Milan: Attack Looks Even Stronger

AC Milan have agreed to a deal with out of favor Sampdoria striker Antonio Cassano which will take affect in January according to Sky Sport 24.

The 28-year old Italian has reached the end of the road in Genoa. After several rumors of departure in his time at the club, Cassano fell off in October after a row with the club's chairman, Ricardo Garrone, about not attending an award's ceremony.

After nine goals and eight assists in 32 Serie A matches last season, Cassano has only featured in seven games for the Genoa club this campaign and not since he helped Sampdoria to a draw with Inter on October 24th, which was followed by the incident with Garrone. In those seven games he has four goals and two assists.

On Thursday, an arbitration panel ruled that Cassano's contract would not be exterminated, but he would have to take a 50% pay-cut at Sampdoria. This made it clear that Sampdoria were going to sell the striker.

Serie A leaders Milan have been persistent of Cassano for some time now and reportedly go into the deal with the blessings of Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri.

While defense is still the primary need for Milan this winter, Cassano's entry into the team is only beneficial. Milan have not been able to find a consistent player to fill the trequartista role. Clarence Seedorf and Kevin-Prince Boateng have both shown signs of success, but nothing that would make them the long-term first choice.

Cassano will fit in the three-man attack behind whichever combination of Pato, Robinho, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic Allegri chooses to use.

The contract will reportedly be worth about $4.7 million US plus bonuses and will run through 2014.

Milan currently lead Serie A by six points heading into the final match before the transfer window opens. With Pippo Inzaghi out for the season and Ronaldinho reportedly either on his way to Liverpool or a Brazilian club, adding a little extra help to the attack is not a bad idea. Now to focus on defense...