Mazzara: Morata, Gimenez, Icardi, Lewandowski – Milan’s striker issue and possible solutions

Journalist Pietro Mazzara has highlighted the problem that AC Milan keep running into when it comes to investments in the attack.

Milan decided to spend over €30m to sign Santiago Gimenez from Feyenoord in the most recent winter transfer window, and then spent closer to €40m on Christian Nkunku as he joined from Chelsea in the summer mercato.

Despite the investment, the returns have not being there. Both the Mexican and the Frenchman are stuck on zero league goals and the former is now out injured. They have only netted against Lecce in the Coppa Italia, leading to talk of some changes in the forward department as early as January.

Problems and solutions

Pietro Mazzara published his weekly column for MilanNews and – in addition to dissecting the draw against Parma on Saturday – he spoke about the issues in attack that Milan are having.

“Robert Lewandowski is a hot topic at Casa Milan. The news leaked out thanks to the indiscretions of Luca Di Benedetto first and then Gianluigi Longari (who rarely gets things wrong about Barcelona).

“What I understand is that Milan, as early as the end of September, began studying the situation surrounding Lewandowski, whose contract expires in June and Barcelona, ​​who have a clause in his favor to extend his current contract unilaterally by a year.

Photos by AC Milan

“It’s very unlikely this idea will materialise in January, but by the summer it could be more viable. Lewandowski has never considered the Arab or American sirens; he wants to continue to be a key player in Europe, and Italy, as has been the case for at least five years now, could be the perfect home for another champion on the last contract of his career.

“Of course, salary and contract length would need to be carefully considered, but this is absolutely not fake news. Tare and Furlani are obviously keeping an eye on the attacking developments, as January can always bring surprises, and some are suggesting Mauro Icardi, who is currently at odds with Galatasaray, could be a potential opportunity, but the salary…

“Also because, it must be said here in light of the facts, the money invested in Morata, Gimenez, and Nkunku hasn’t paid off sportingly. Milan, after the spells of Ibrahimovic and Giroud (absolute champions but both overage players), has returned to the search for the missing piece: a centre-forward who scores goals in droves.

“The problem is age-old: Nkunku isn’t convincing, and Gimenez still has a good month to try to reverse the downward spiral he’s fallen into. Here, the numbers certainly don’t add up.”