With AC Milan reportedly in discussions to sign Pietro Pellegri on a permanent basis from Monaco, the touted talks will likely have raised some eyebrows.
As per MilanNews, it’s suggested that the two clubs are negotiating an early outright signing with a fee of around €4m-€5m being touted, as well as a subsequent loan move to Torino for the rest of the season.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Milan fall to costly defeat to Spezia amid controversial end
The move arguably doesn’t make sense for a number of reasons, and so with just over a week remaining in the January transfer window, time will tell whether or not this is a deal that Milan prioritise, and ultimately complete.
Pellegri signing a head-scratching move from Milan
Currently on a season-long loan deal, Pellegri was given an opportunity to prove to the Milan coaching staff and hierarchy alike that he was capable of providing a key contribution in our bid to compete on multiple fronts.
With our return to the Champions League and two ageing stalwarts in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud, there was an obvious need for a younger option to step in when necessary, with a view of potentially being a long-term solution.
Since arriving last summer, Pellegri has managed just six appearances for the Rossoneri, totalling a measly 127 minutes of playing time while failing to register either a goal or an assist.
As loan spells go, that is not one of the best returns that Milan will receive, and so if anything, it was all pointing towards allowing the loan spell to run its course before sending Pellegri back to Monaco.
However, as noted in the report above, it appears that Milan are going to press ahead with signing him permanently before offloading him on a loan deal to Torino, with little in the way of valid reasoning to back such a decision.
Aside from his injury issues and lack of impact, there are other areas of need for Stefano Pioli this month, and so for Milan to spend time on this deal right now just doesn’t make any sense when we need to be prioritising a defender and perhaps even a midfielder above it.
Pellegri simply hasn’t done enough on the pitch to warrant a permanent switch to the Rossoneri, and so for the club to now seemingly be set to invest a further €4m in him when we’re likely to be looking for loan deals elsewhere, raises question marks about not only the move itself, but about the strategy and decision-making of the hierarchy.
Perhaps there is something in training that we haven’t seen but Pioli has. Perhaps the club genuinely believe that once the injury issues are resolved, Pellegri will become a top, top player capable of leading the Milan attack. The fact remains though that we have seen nothing to suggest that that is likely, but instead of looking at other more reliable options with more potential, it appears as though Pellegri will get his big move.
