AC Milan are reportedly set to complete the formalities of the signing of Strahinja Pavlovic from RB Salzburg in the next 24 hours.
The Rossoneri were in need of strengthening our backline this summer after our struggles defensively last season, while there was also the task of adding a centre-half who suits the style of play and system that Paulo Fonseca is looking to implement.
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It appears as though Pavlovic has emerged as the priority target, and according to Fabrizio Romano, he is set to undergo a medical on Tuesday and sign his contract with Milan to complete his move from Salzburg, in a deal said to be worth €18m plus €2m in add-ons.
While the Serbian international has already gained plenty of experience having established himself as a key figure for club and country, at 23 years of age, he still has a big future ahead of him and will hopefully develop and improve further under the guidance of Fonseca in this next chapter of his career.
Time will tell what his arrival means in terms of a potential knock-on effect for our current options and perhaps we might look to sell to balance our spending, but having had the worst defence out of the top 11 Serie A sides last season after conceding 49 goals in 38 league games, we’ve hopefully gone some way towards shoring things up at the back.
Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia, Malick Thiaw and Pierre Kalulu are currently the options available to Fonseca to play in the middle, and so it will be interesting to see if we’re simply strengthening or if we see Pavlovic as an upgrade on one of those individuals.
In addition to bringing balance to the centre-half partnership with his ability to play as the left-sided central defender, it’s hoped that the Serbian international can not only add solidity to the Milan defence and help make us a more formidable defensive unit, but with Fonseca’s preferred style of play in mind, he’ll hopefully bring composure and technical ability at the back too.
Should the deal go through as expected, he’ll become our second signing of the summer after Alvaro Morata, and it certainly looks as though Fonseca and the Milan hierarchy have successfully identified where we need to improve, and hopefully our midfield and the right-back position will be addressed next.