Soualiho Meite will see his loan spell at AC Milan come to an end this month, and the expectation is that the Rossoneri will not extend his stay.
The 27-year-old arrived in January and ultimately served his purpose in offering depth in midfield to help us maintain our position in the Serie A table and compete in Europe.
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At that time, Milan arguably had an outside chance of the Scudetto, and so bringing in players with experience and who could make an impact immediately was seemingly the right idea to try and consolidate our position.
However, while Fikayo Tomori was a huge success and will hopefully be signed on a permanent basis this summer, other moves for the likes of Meite and Mario Mandzukic didn’t play out as we would have hoped.
Mandzukic’s exit has already been confirmed by the Croatian stalwart himself on social media, and as noted by MilanNews, via the paper edition of Tuttosport, it’s suggested that Meite will likely follow him out of the exit door in the coming weeks.
It’s noted that the Rossoneri are not expected to exercise our option to buy the midfielder, and so he will return to Torino when his loan deal expires as Milan prepare to look elsewhere to find a solution in that department.
Meite made 21 appearances for us in the second half of the campaign, often coming on off the bench to shore things up in midfield and to perhaps provide Ismael Bennacer with some rest or to replace him if the Algerian was struggling with form and fitness after an injury-plagued campaign.
The hope is that Bennacer stays fit and healthy next season and forms a formidable partnership with Franck Kessie in front of the defence again, while Sandro Tonali is expected to be signed permanently from Brescia and there is the option of keeping Tommaso Pobega involved as he returns from his loan spell.
That in itself is enough to make any decision to move on from Meite the right one, but ultimately there are many better options on the market to fill the role that he played for us and so if we do need to replace him, it’s the smart move rather than sticking with him.
In many ways it’s hard on Meite as it would have been difficult for him to really prove himself in limited playing time and being brought on in difficult situations where he couldn’t particularly express himself or showcase his full talent.
Nevertheless, we saw enough of him to make a decision that benefits us for the long-term, and Milan will do the right thing if we look elsewhere when trying to add quality and depth to our midfield moving forward.