There was a great deal of excitement in January after Milan completed a double swoop to bring Lucas Paqueta and Krzysztof Piatek to the club.
While it ultimately didn’t have the desired impact in helping us secure a top-four finish in Serie A last season, the pair showed signs that we added real quality to the side.
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Piatek has had his own problems this year with a lack of goals and question marks could perhaps be raised over his future at Milan moving forward if he isn’t able to rediscover his best form and lead our charge.
However, it’s Paqueta who is seemingly under the microscope currently, with Calciomercato noting that Paris Saint-Germain are interested in the Brazilian international, although it’s said that Milan will demand around €35m to green light an exit in order to recoup their initial outlay.
Looking at the figures, Paqueta simply hasn’t done enough. He’s scored just one goal and provided three assists in 30 appearances for us since joining at the start of the year.
Adjusting to a new league, culture, country and squad is a challenge for any player, but with the quality that he possesses, we need to see more from him moving forward.
While he has shown that he can add technical quality and a bit more flair to our midfield, it’s the tangible influence that is lacking as he hasn’t been good enough in the final third to make a decisive impact.
With that in mind, it could be argued that Milan should consider an exit and use that fee to reinvest in the squad. It would be a huge shame to see that happen though as he’s still only 22 and we showed a lot of faith in him at the time of signing him from Flamengo to suggest that he could be a major part of our future.
In turn, it’s hoped that the speculation doesn’t lead to an exit for now at least, but if Paqueta doesn’t show his worth between now and the end of the season in the form of goals and assists, things could get increasingly difficult for him to prove that he deserves a chance to remain.
That said, with the likes of Hakan Calhanoglu and Suso also failing to impress this season, it’s hoped that Paqueta isn’t the first to be axed if there are exits at the end of the season as there are arguably others who should go first as they’ve shown even less influence and potential moving forward despite having bigger and more important roles in the starting XI.
Writing a piece on Paqueta. Interested to hear your position on him amid links with PSG.#ForzaMilan
— Milan Talk (@MilanTalk1) December 27, 2019