As Juventus And Inter Spend, Milan Are Looking On In Envy

There’s been lots of transfer activity in Serie A over the last few days and weeks.

Juventus have bought the out-and-out striker they so badly needed in Dusan Vlahovic; Inter sent a clear signal to the rest of the division by signing Robin Gosens from Atalanta and a back up striker in Simone Inzaghi favourite Felipe Caicedo; Atalanta had announced the signature of Sassuolo winger Jeremie Boga earlier in the window; Napoli signed Man Utd defender Axel Tuanzebe and Roma brought in Sergio Oliveira and Ainsley Natland-Miles from Arsenal.

Notice any big sides absent from the list?

Milan.

The Rossoneri didn’t make any big splashes in the winter window (but with a day left of the window as of writing, this could of course all change), except for signing young Serb striker Marko Lazetic from Red Star Belgrade.

Lazetic, still only 18, is undoubtedly one for the future, but it’s been a very quiet window from Milan, and the club needs to be careful not to fall behind in the second half of the season.

Despite sitting second in Serie A and looking like the only credible title challengers to Inter, Milan don’t possess the biggest of squads in the league. In fact, no one really does aside from the reigning champions. This has played into their hands, as when the likes of Milan and Napoli are forced to dig deep into their squads to give minutes to peripheral figures or young products, Inter can call on the likes of Alexis Sanchez or Arturo Vidal, who both have years of experience at the highest level.

Milan have a wonderful starting XI, but when players come down with injuries or are unavailable, they don’t look as threatening, and we have seen this in the last few games of the season before the latest international break.

They only managed to score once at home to Spezia, and ultimately threw the game away in the final minutes, losing 2-1. This was then followed up with a truly horrendous game against Juventus that ended in a 0-0 draw with neither side looking even close to creating anything meaningful.

Take a couple of links out of the red-and-black chain, and it begins to collapse.

Milan fans won’t have taken much comfort in seeing their biggest rivals going out and reinforcing their respective sides. Especially with Juve buying Vlahovic and on the verge of buying Denis Zakaria from Borussia Monchengladbach.

Those two arrivals will give The Old Lady the shot in the arm she needs to catapult themselves back into the top four. Inter, meanwhile, have spent €25m ($27.8m) to bring Gosens, one of the best in the world in his position, to San Siro.

An almighty Inter squad just got that little bit better.

Milan, of course, lack the financial muscle of Inter and Juve. Elliott Management want the club to become self-sufficient, and operate within a tight structure.

This effects what Milan can and can’t do in the market. Losses have dropped by €100m ($111m) over the last year, but the debt still stands at around €96m ($106m).

This means that for now, the club will have to make do with what they have and press on, hoping the tactical guise of Stefano Pioli and the age-defying willpower of Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be suffice to guarantee Champions League football again next season.

But it’s the legendary Swede that is becoming a problem. He pulled up with yet another injury in the drab draw against Juve, and his injuries are becoming ever more frequent.

With his contract expiring at the end of the season, there are discussions as to whether Milan can really bankroll another year of Ibrahimovic without getting much in the way of goals on the pitch.

After years of defying age, it seems that football is catching up to the sport’s own Benjamin Button. He’s scored eight goals this season, but has only started 11 games in Serie A.

A major advantage for Milan in the run-in is being out of the Champions League. Finishing last in their group means no European football post-Christmas, and this is a blessing in disguise, as their thin squad couldn’t cope with the demands of three competitions.

Contesting in Serie A and the odd Coppa Italia tie should be enough to cover the full use of their squad and to make it to the end of the season, securing a place in the top four.

But come the summer, sporting directors Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara know they need the club to invest more money if they don’t want to the gap to grow any further.

They’ve been over performing thus far, but that won’t last forever.