Two days have passed, and a lot of the question marks have disappeared:
1) Defense: we still need at least one player, ideally a CB, because that’s where De Winter seems the most erratic. He can provide cover for both Pavlović and Gila. It’s not perfect, but as a fifth defender he’ll do - there should be enough playing time to go around.
2) Wing-backs: now we know the idea: an attacking player on one side and a defensive one on the other. So Alexis or Estupiñán + Moreira or Chukwueze. Moreira can play on either side as the attacking option, Alexis on either side as the defensive one, Estupiñán only on the left, Chukwueze only on the right
3) Central midfield: it’s going to be a DM + regista. Jashari or Modrić + Musah or… my bet is Rabiot, although Fofana would fit this role like a glove, no matter how loudly the racists scream that he wouldn’t. It’s strange that we’re chasing some left-footed AM when we already have Rabiot, who can play there. Put him there, make Fofana the first-choice alternative to Musah, and suddenly we’re very well covered at a high level. We’re creating this problem ourselves by freezing Fofana out for reasons that (obviously) have absolutely nothing to do with football - either something strange happened in the dressing room, or this is worse than a crime: it’s a blunder.
4) The two attacking midfielders: one is an advanced playmaker on the right, the other a classic No. 10 on the left. Amorim apparently sees Cissé and Pulisic on the left, and either a new signing or, God forbid, Loftus on the right. Meanwhile, anyone with a functioning brain would’ve made Loftus the first man to be exiled, Origi-style - and I don’t mean today, I mean back in 2023. The right side is crying out for Rabiot (as above) + Pulisic, which would then beautifully open up the left side for two natural left-wingers, Leão and Cissé. But again, that would make far too much sense, and apparently we need to manufacture some kind of problem for ourselves. So we’ll freeze out Leão, keep Loftus, because the difficulty level simply cannot be allowed to get too low.
5) Up front: Ramos won’t be able to play 90 minutes at the required intensity. We don’t need someone who can occasionally give him a rest - we need someone capable of playing a third of every league match for him and two-thirds of the cup games. Camarda won’t be that guy, so a second striker becomes more than just necessary. And no, Leão is not an answer for that position. Keeping him won’t solve anything in this setup. He’ll either play as the LAM or he’ll be outside Milan.
The answer to our needs is not going to be some square-headed guy from United, nor yet another right wing-back - which is how I see that Moroccan. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there are still three signings coming (I’ve accepted that Fofana is leaving, so it has to be three, not two): CB, RAM, CF. If we make only two signings, we’ll repeat the same mistake we made with Allegri - we’ll clip our own wings before we’ve even had the chance to fly.
Ceterum censeo RLC has to be sold immediately.
