GdS: Talents, exits, Abate and new faces – the future of Milan Primavera

SempreMilan

·27 April 2024

GdS: Talents, exits, Abate and new faces – the future of Milan Primavera

AC Milan’s Primavera side might have lost the final of the UEFA Youth League against Olympiacos, but the future is still very bright for the youth sector.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, no Italian club had ever reached the final of the Youth League and for many players in the Primavera it will be a turning point. Despite a tight play-off race in the league, the planning for next season has begun.

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For some, the time will come to say goodbye. For others there will be contractual issues to resolve, while for some new prospects could soon open up. The reference is to a hypothetical U23 team, an increasingly concrete idea around Milanello.

Milan B

The starting point is the U23 team. Milan have been thinking about this option for a while, primarily to encourage and accelerate the development of many interesting young talents in senior football.

This has been done in recent years by Juve and Atalanta, the other two clubs in Italy that have embraced the project. The decisionhas been made, but to move forward the non-registration of a club to Serie C is needed to free up a slot that could be occupied by the Rossoneri.

Ignazio Abate is doing an excellent job with the Primavera and his future will be a topic, also because he is out of contract. At the moment, it seems that Daniele Bonera – currently on Stefano Pioli’s staff – is likely to be the U23 manager.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is supervising the matter, while Jovan Kirovski is expected to take on the role of sporting director, ready for a new adventure after 11 years as technical director of the Los Angeles Galaxy. For the stadium, one of the options is the Stadio Ernesto Breda in Sesto San Giovanni.

The 2004 class

The premise is that with the season in its crucial phase any evaluation for the Primavera could undergo a change, especially considering a second team on the horizon. Another factor that could mix up the cards is that next year the Primavera 1 championship will become Under 20.

This year, the cut-off is the 2005-born players, but the regulation foresees six 2004s as being out of quota. In this sense, Milan has forged ahead, focusing especially on a group of 2006 and 2007 players to raise the bar and get the boys out of the comfort zone.

The only 2004 players under Abate’s orders are the goalkeeper Andrea Bartoccioni and the central Clinton Nsiala, on whom evaluations will be made.

The defender is linked to the Rossoneri by a contract that expires in 2024 and was among the pillars of a group that reached the Youth League Final Four twice in a row, again a unique result for an Italian. The many injuries that plagued the first team led Pioli to call him up on six occasions.

The 2005 class

Another important discussion concerns the 2005-born players. In the front row there are goalkeeper Noah Raveyre, protagonist in the Youth League, but also defenders Jan-Carlo Simic, Davide Bartesaghi, Alex Jimenez and captain Kevin Zeroli.

For Simic and Jimenez there would first of all be contractual issues to resolve. What will they do? The Serbian centre-back, who made his Serie A debut in December with a goal against Monza, is linked to the club until 2025. Under these conditions, joining a hypothetical U23 team is less plausible.

It is a different question for Jimenez: Milan can buy him from Real Madrid in the summer and Los Blancos have a counter right that can be exercised in 2025 and 2026. In June he can therefore become a permanent Milan player, at least for a season.

Should the Under 23 project materialise – and always considering the possibilities of use in the first team – the captain Kevin Zeroli could be a cornerstone, who a few days ago renewed until 2028.

The next crop

Next year’s Primavera will rely heavily on the 2006 and 2007-born players. It is already happening this season, for example with the forwards Filippo Scotti and Diego Sia, who just in recent months signed their first professional contracts. Sia is the team’s top scorer with 15 goals.

Among the 2007 players, a point of reference will be the playmaker Mattia Liberali, who joined the group already this year and has been useful to the cause several times with six goals in the league, Youth League and Coppa Italia Primavera.

The biggest question mark is on Francesco Camarda. He recently turned 16 and his name has been at the center of discussions for weeks for a renewal that is slow to come. The big names in Europe – including Manchester City, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund – are at the window.

In the event of signing a new deal with Milan and the formation of the U23 team, Camarda would be one of the flagships of the project.

With the Youth League over, he and his team-mates are now thinking about reaching the play-offs: Milan are currently sixth, two points behind Torino, but have a game in hand. The future of Abate’s boys starts here.