Milan were given ample opportunity to snap up a proven striker for free with low wages this summer, but Susy Campanale believes they will regret ignoring Andrea Belotti.
The Rossoneri romped to their first Serie A title in over a decade last season, despite working on a tight budget and with numerous injury problems throughout the campaign.
It was abundantly clear that some roles needed strengthening, especially if they were to make a go of it in the Champions League too, as key players had no reliable understudy and were worn out by the end of the season.
So much time was spent this summer trying to find a centre-back, but not enough focus was put on an area they are now suffering in – attack.
Charles De Ketelaere took up a large chunk of the budget, but he can play several different roles and still needs time to adapt to a whole new team and league.
It was already known before he arrived that Divock Origi was injured, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic ruled out until 2023 by knee surgery.
Ante Rebic has never been particularly reliable even before this recurring back issue, so once again Milan find themselves clinging for dear life to Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao.
The answer was sitting right there twiddling his thumbs for months as a free agent, a man with a proven track record in Serie A, on relatively low wages and who wouldn’t mind something less than a starring role for the club he always supported.
Belotti has no resale value, they said, but neither do Giroud or Ibrahimovic.
Il Gallo is too old, they claimed, but at 28 he’s a spring chicken compared to the other strikers at San Siro and only a year older than Origi.
He would’ve been able to bolster the Italian contingent, something that is practically a boost considering Milan’s squad is restricted in the Champions League by the lack of local players.
If either Leao or Giroud miss out, this is a largely toothless team who can’t truly depend on Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz or Junior Messias for clinical finishing.
It never made much sense that Milan wanted Belotti when Torino could rest on his €100m release clause, then completely ignored him once he became free. Stefano Pioli and Paolo Maldini might live to regret that snub.