Quartet of talented Milan starlets line up and look to make bigger impact next season

August 7, 2020 MilanTalk Staff Blog, News, NewsNow 0

Provided Milan qualify for the Europa League group stage, it opens up the door to more games and more opportunities for some of the younger players eyeing a breakthrough at senior level.

The Rossoneri could end up playing in excess of 50 games next season if all goes to plan and we’re competing for major trophies, and so Stefano Pioli will hope to have a deep squad at his disposal.

READ MORE: Milan duo emerge as most improved players last season to cement places in Pioli’s XI

That will partly be addressed in the transfer window this summer, but the other avenue will be to bring through some of the younger players and oversee their development to see them make an important contribution.

Four in particular are seemingly set to be given such an opportunity, as they are the latest crop hoping to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Matteo Gabbia and Davide Calabria, as they aim to not just making a breakthrough, but then kick on and stay at the club rather than being offloaded.

Daniel Maldini

The 18-year-old has the weight of expectation to deal with given his family ties to the club, but he’s very different in many ways starting with his preferred position and role on the pitch.

19 goals and five assists in 40 appearances for the Primavera side showed that he has real quality in the final third, but it’s an important next step for him to ensure he stays in the squad on merit.

While he has made just two appearances for the senior side to date, he’ll hopefully grow in confidence and belief that he can produce at this level as he understandably kept things pretty simple when involved this year.

Lorenzo Colombo

Another 18-year-old who has shown he has a great deal of talent at youth level and made a couple of appearances this season as Pioli gave him a look in at life in the senior squad.

Physically imposing with a dangerous left foot and an aerial threat, there are impressive characteristics that will ensure Milan have something to work with and potentially could use as an alternative to Zlatan Ibrahimovic next season depending on our work in the transfer window.

Colombo has been backed with a new contract which runs until 2024, and so it’s down to him to show the development in his game when given chances to ensure he can be a part of the first-team squad for the long-term future.

Marco Brescianini

At 20, he’s a little ahead of the others but he had to bide his time to make his first appearance at senior level as Pioli gave him minutes in our final game of the season against Cagliari last weekend.

As a left-footer, he could offer us an important balance in midfield as an alternative to Ismael Bennacer, while he has the versatility and ability to play in a more advanced role too.

Similarly to the two names above, it will be about growing in confidence as he gets playing time, but he didn’t look overawed by the occasion last time out and showed some good touches and intelligence on the ball to suggest that we’ll see more of him next season.

Tommaso Pobega

As per Antonio Vitiello’s tweet below, the expectation is that the 21-year-old will be part of the first-team squad next season as he returns from his loan spell with Pordenone.

In 32 appearances for the Serie B outfit this season, he has bagged six goals and four assists in a central midfield role, and there has been a lot of chatter about this youngster for some time.

He’ll no doubt benefit from having the experience of this season under his belt and so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s perhaps fast-tracked ahead of the others and plays slightly more often.

There’s a lot to like about his game as he’s comfortable with both feet but predominantly left-footed, he can dig into a midfield battle and offers creative quality in the final third with his late runs forward as well as with his passing range, so time will tell just how big a contribution he can make next season.