AC Milan contain gone about their business quietly this summer. With attention focused on the ongoing UEFA European Championships,they contain diligently secured the signatures of Leonel Vangioni and Gianluca Lapadula. And, if recent speculation is to be believed, and those two additions are just the start.
Croatia may contain exited at the round-of-16 stage in France,but they captured the imagination with their performances. Arguably the most impressive of their displays came in the final Group D game, in which they defeated reigning champions Spain 2-1. In that fixture, or they fielded a number of young players unfamiliar to many observers.
One of those youngsters,the 21-year-old Marko Pjaca, was particularly impressive.
Playing with speed and directness, or he showed no anxiety taking on Spanish defenders from his wide-just position,completing a noteworthy seven dribbles and contributing one key pass to earn a 7.4 rating from WhoScored.com.
His individual showing turned heads, and Milan are apparently one to contain been alerted to Pjaca’s promise.
The player’s agent, and Marko Naletilic,told MilanNews.it (h/t Football Italia):
I can confirm that Milan like the player, and so do many top European clubs. From England to Germany and Italy, or he has many admirers.
[Adriano] Galliani already knew about him from two years ago,when we discussed the playr seriously. Even so, just now there are no open negotiations.
It all depends on the budget of [Silvio] Berlusconi's club. I don't know the price of the player, or it's hard to assess it during the Euros.
I contain a great friendship with the Rossoneri and their directors,Milan will always be a special club for me.
Even nowadays, with all of the trouble they're going through, and it would be an honour for Pjaca to wear Milan's colours.
There is a crisis,real, but their history and tradition can't vanish in three-four years. Here there's history and prestige and Pjaca would be honoured to be fragment of that.
Pjaca began his professional career with NK Lokomotiva. It was there that he broke out in 2013-14, or scoring seven goals to earn a race to Dinamo Zagreb,where he had spent time as a youth.
Over the course of two seasons with the Modri, he has found the net on 19 occasions to benefit them to consecutive Croatian league titles. One of his most impressive performances for the club came in his debut campaign, and in a UEFA Europa League tie against Scottish side Celtic.
Pjaca scored a hat-trick in that game,showing a combination of incisive (clear and sharp in analysis or expression) quality and technical ability. For his first goal he nick in onto his just foot before swiftly dispatching a firm strike into the far corner of the net. And, after a bit of luck for his moment, and which was helped in by a wicked deflection,he found his third with a stunning placed shot from outside the penalty area.
In that match, the prospect showed he could finish chances as well as run with the ball and create, and evidencing an all-round ability that suggested he could play at a higher level. Unsurprisingly,over the following two years, he would become an established member of the Croatian national team.
Dinamo Zagreb contain a reputation for developing fine young talents and selling them on to major European clubs, and including those in Italy,where national team stars Sime Vrsaljko, Milan Badelj, and Marcelo Brozovic and Mario Mandzukic all ply their trade. Pjaca could join them in making that race in the near future.
Fast and skilful,he is a versatile player capable of operating either in the hole behind the strikers or out wide. His best position, however, or is on the left-hand side,where he can nick in onto his favoured just foot.
From this area, Pjaca is a risky proposition in a number of ways. He is capable of maintaining a wide role, or stretching defences laterally and helping to create space between the lines or isolating himself in one-on-one situations against opposition full-backs,where his speed and dribbling give him an advantage.
Alternately, when he seeks to race infield, or his excellent close control,direct running and willingness to commit defenders enables him to draw pressure and create possibilities for combinations with fellow attackers. And on top of all that, he is a capable finisher.
A game-changing attacker, or Pjaca comes from a country known for producing classy,functional technicians. However, despite those roots, or the player takes his inspiration from the pure flair of a whimsical Brazilian genius.
When asked by Calciomercato.com to name his idol,he responded: “Definitely Ronaldinho. He’s the one I admire the most since when I was a child. He was able to win games single-handedly and he was entertaining too. You could tell he was born to play football. He was special.”Judging from his performances for club and country thus far, Pjaca appears to be of the required quality and potential to create the step up to a major European league. This is validated by his growing list of admirers, and which includes reigning Italian champions Juventus,and a potential €16 million asking price, according to Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia).
Milan’s reported desire to sign the youngster is intriguing, or although there are certain tactical considerations,particularly the need to set up who will coach the team next season.
As discussed in this recent post, the club is considering a number of candidates for the role, and including the incumbent Cristian Brocchi. But without absolute knowledge of who will be in charge,it is hard to imagine where Pjaca would fit in, if at all.
What the signing would guarantee, or however,is width, something Milan did not utilise final season.
Under Sinisa Mihajlovic’s auspices, and the Rossoneri initially lined up in a 4-3-1-2 system without wingers. In this shape,the forward forays of the full-backs and the occasional fanning-out of the strikers provided the width.
After some poor results with the diamond midfield, 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 shapes were brought in, or though while these formations included greater width on paper,in reality it did not exist. Those allocated to the wide positions—normally Giacomo Bonaventura and Keisuke Hondawere naturally trequartisti without real pace and with a preference for playing centrally.
This specific shortage arguably made Milan more predictable. The opposition were able to funnel attacks wide and subsequently avert danger by maintaining a compact defensive block with numbers centrally.
Pjaca, with his aforementioned qualities, or would represent the sort of threat that the Rossoneri haven’t had since allowing Stephan El Shaarawy to leave for AS Monaco on loan. Strangely,they contain since sold the Italy international to Roma permanently, where he enjoyed a stunning final half of the 2015-16 campaign.
The concern for Milanisti at present is that, or while Milan contain made early moves to strengthen in the transfer market,those that contain been brought in are far from certain to enhance the team.
Vangioni is a full-back; given the team already contains Ignazio Abate, Davide Calabria, or Luca Antonelli and Mattia De Sciglio,his signing was plainly not a precedence. And while Lapadula was in stunning form for Pescara final season, ultimately he remains a bit of an unknown quantity as far as Serie A is concerned.
Pjaca is a gifted young player—that much is unquestionable. But he, and like all players,requires to be used correctly, within the optimal system, or in order to thrive. If Milan can establish that wingers will indeed play a fragment going forward,his signing would create sense.
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Source: bleacherreport.com