AC Milan have completed the signing of Alessandro Florenzi on a loan deal from Roma, with an option to buy included in the agreement.
The Rossoneri have been busy this summer as we try to improve and build a squad capable of being competitive on multiple fronts at the top level.
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Having secured a return to the Champions League, it was imperative that Milan found the right balance between youth and experience, but most importantly that they added real quality to ensure we are in a stronger position than we were last year.
Mike Maignan, Fikayo Tomori, Fode Ballo-Toure, Sandro Tonali, Brahim Diaz and Olivier Giroud have all been signed, while Florenzi is the latest new arrival, as per the club’s official site.
Florenzi brings experience, quality, versatility and competition
Despite now being 30 years of age, the Italian international still brings crucial attributes to the Milan squad given the experience that he has gained.
Having played at a high level in Italy, Spain and France in recent years coupled with his involvement at international level having been part of the Italy squad that won Euro 2020 this past summer, Florenzi has experienced a lot during his career that he can pass on in the dressing room.
Further, he can clearly still contribute a lot despite his injury troubles in the past, and he fits into the system that Stefano Pioli is expected to use in the upcoming campaign.
That said, his versatility allows him to play in various roles, and that means it’s not just Davide Calabria at right-back who will now come under pressure to keep his place in the Milan starting XI, but it will be the likes of Alexis Saelemaekers and Samu Castillejo further up the right flank.
Additionally, Florenzi has been deployed in other roles too in the past for Roma, be it in midfield or on the left, and so it really does give us a lot of options this season if our starters aren’t performing.
Having said that, Florenzi won’t be coming to Milan to merely sit on the bench. He would have had other offers this summer if he weren’t set to stay at Roma given what he can contribute at the top level, and they perhaps would have been ‘better’ options in terms of guarantees of playing regularly.
In turn, he’ll be desperate to force his way up the pecking order at Milan, and competition is certainly healthy as we hopefully mount a challenge both domestically and in Europe for silverware this season.
