AC Milan have confirmed our ninth summer signing as Marco Pellegrino joins the club, but more is expected from the Rossoneri before the deadline.
As per the club’s statement, the 21-year-old joins us from Club Atletico Platense, and he has signed a contract that will run until June 2028 as he looks to establish himself as a key figure in our long-term plans.
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Pellegrino leaves Argentina having made 17 appearances at senior level for his now former club, as he becomes the latest intriguing addition to our squad to hopefully play a fundamental role for us moving forward.
A physical centre-half with tenacity and composure in his defensive style, he also boasts technical ability and an assuredness in possession to build out from the back. Further, as a left-footed defender, he provides competition and depth for Fikayo Tomori, and will hopefully give us a good balance in the backline when involved.
He follows Marco Sportiello, Luka Romero, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic, Tijjani Reijnders, Noah Okafor, Samuel Chukwueze and Yunus Musah in joining Milan this summer, in what is an exciting rebuild at this stage, and one that hopefully builds a foundation and starts a new cycle of success in the coming years.
We’ve balanced that with a number of exits too though, with Sandro Tonali, Charles De Ketelaere, Junior Messias, Ante Rebic, Ciprian Tatarusanu, Matteo Gabbia, Daniel Maldini, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Brahim Diaz, Sergino Dest, Aster Vranckx and Timeoue Bakayoko all departing this summer in one way or another, and so it’s a fresh start with plenty of promise.
As per Antonio Vitiello, Mattia Caldara, Divock Origi, Fode Ballo-Toure and Alexis Saelemaekers were all left out of the squad that faced Bologna on Monday night, and so there could yet be more exits ahead while those voids will potentially need to be filled.
What’s been so impressive about our work in the transfer market this summer is that we’ve not only got rid of deadwood or players who the fans would have identified as not contributing enough consistently, but we’ve transformed the identity and the build of this squad. We’ve added energy, physicality, athleticism and technical ability to hopefully become a much stronger group, and that has certainly created a more optimistic and positive environment.
After a 2-0 win over Bologna to start the new Serie A season, Stefano Pioli will be pleased with what he saw but fully aware that there are still key aspects to work on, notably the balance in the side to be more defensively sound.
He now has another centre-back option at his disposal in Pellegrino to put pressure on those ahead of him in the pecking order to raise their level, and we could have a busy week-and-a-half ahead with more new signings and exits being announced.
