Football Season Guide

Milan lived a double-faceted campaign last season as they were hopeless at the beginning, with coach Giampaolo at the helm, and improved just a little once Pioli was given the reins. Then, football stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Devils changed radically. In fact, they were the ones who benefited the most from a return to the competitions, going undefeated in the last 12 and achieving qualification to the Europa League. Their results were so impressive that the management had to change their minds about Pioli’s future. They had already chosen guru Ralf Rangnick as his successor but eventually opted to confirm the former Bologna and Lazio coach at the helm. Had the German coach been in charge, Milan would have invested a massive amount of cash over the summer: with Pioli at the helm, they decided to be slightly more parsimonious. First of all, they managed to turn into permanent deals Kjaer’s and Salemaekers’s loans. Both players offered surprising performances last season and their permanence at the club is well deserved. Then, they obtained Diaz on loan from Real Madrid and he is expected to earn himself a start as a winger in the long run, in a 4-2-3-1 formation that worked so well just a few months ago. However, they invested the most on Tonali, the young Brescia holding midfielder who is set to become a protagonist of Italian football. Last but not least, they were more than pleased to convince 37-year-old Ibrahimovic to remain one more year at the club, after he had made the difference last season with his goals, 10, and assists, 5. In terms of departures of note, Milan only let go Biglia, who spent most of the time injured, and Bonaventura. The latter’s exit could turn out to be a mistake as he left a big mark on last season, serving 6 assists in the last 9 games despite starting mostly from the bench. At the moment, Milan are still searching for a right-back, Conti is not entirely reliable; a back-up goalkeeper, with Begovic returning to his parent club, one more alternative for the heart of the defence and for the midfield.