The AC Milan management are evaluating how the attack might look beyond the end of the season and Tommaso Baldanzi has emerged as a replacement for Brahim Diaz, a report claims.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (as seen below) talks about how the diktat in terms of investments in the transfer market has not changed despite ownership passing from Elliott Management to RedBird Capital.
Baldanzi corresponds perfectly to the type of player the management should be looking at given he is only 20 years old but has 18 appearances and 4 goals in his first season in Serie A with Empoli, with an asking price of no more than €15m.
Baldanzi is a product of the Empoli youth sector which he joined at the age of 8, and by 17 he was making his first team debut in the Coppa Italia. His first Serie A games arrived at age 19, and now he has a permanent position in the side having scored against Hellas Verona, Sassuolo, Udinese and Inter.
The last one in particular was special goal because after the game he admitted to being a Milan fan, and now the esteem seems to be mutual because he fits the mould of being a pure attacking midfielder with creativity, dribbling and an eye for goal.
This sounds a bit like Brahim Diaz in terms of profile, who is four years older than him and already has experience on the biggest European stages. His loan will expire at the end of the season, but the Spaniard’s future remains unclear.
Milan can sign him by paying Real Madrid €22m but they have a buy-back set at €27m. The Rossoneri management would like to convince Real over general agreement that excludes other potential competitors from the negotiations, and they will offer to buy him for €16-18m.
The LaLiga giants are reflecting because they are not sure they can carve out a space for him in next year’s team, but they are quite sure they can eventually earn more from his sale.
Yacine Adli meanwhile could be loaned out for next season while Charles De Ketelaere has the club’s confidence, so Baldanzi could fit into the attacking department nicely. Relations with Empoli are great and have been since that summer which saw Rade Krunic and Ismael Bennacer move from Tuscany to Lombardy for a combined €25m.
Source sempremilan.com
