{"id":553908,"date":"2020-06-16T11:21:02","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T15:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=553908"},"modified":"2020-06-16T11:29:19","modified_gmt":"2020-06-16T15:29:19","slug":"three-sales-ac-milan-must-avoid-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/06\/16\/three-sales-ac-milan-must-avoid-this-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Sales AC Milan Must Avoid This Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/ac-milan\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AC Milan<\/a> have been in a state of limbo for nearly a decade now. The\u00a0<em>Rossoneri\u00a0<\/em>have not participated in the Champions League since 2014 and seem to go through complete team overhauls after every season.<\/p>\n<p>This, of course, is not working. With no lasting foundation, Milan basically &#8216;rebuild&#8217; every summer and expect everything to be solved in one season. That, however, is not a reality in professional football. Rebuilding a club of Milan&#8217;s European stature is a process. Solid purchases this past summer perhaps show glimpses of a better future. To ensure this, here are three sales Milan must avoid in this coming transfer window.<\/p>\n<h2>Three Sales AC Milan Must Avoid<\/h2>\n<h3>Gianluigi Donnarumma &#8211; AC Milan Number One<\/h3>\n<p>This won&#8217;t be easy. <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/08f5afaa\/Gianluigi-Donnarumma\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gianluigi Donnarumma<\/a> is one of the greatest young goalkeeping prospects of the last decade and is arguably already the top goalkeeper in Italy. It&#8217;s easy to forget he&#8217;s only 21-years-old as his professionalism and experience exceed that of peers in his age group.<\/p>\n<p>Every team wants a talent like him, and Donnarumma should have already seen a Champions League debut. With the UEFA European Championships postponed to next summer, the Italian may want to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/1284702\/Chelsea-Transfer-News-Gossip-Frank-Lampard-Gianluigi-Donnarumma-Mino-Raiola-Latest\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">make a bigger name<\/a> for himself around Europe.<\/p>\n<p>With that being said, Donnarumma has shown signs of loyalty to Milan. If Milan were a Champions League side, this wouldn&#8217;t be a discussion. Donnarumma would solely leave due to a professional decision, and nothing in regard to disdain towards the club. If Milan can manage to have the finance books balanced, then they need to prioritise keeping their biggest building block for the next decade.<\/p>\n<p>Donnarumma has all the tools to become a true superstar in the game.<\/p>\n<h3>Isma\u00ebl Bennacer &#8211; Midfield Heartbeat<\/h3>\n<p>The purchase of <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/db092d3b\/Ismael-Bennacer\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isma\u00ebl Bennacer<\/a> last summer was a shrewd one that barely made football headlines. The Algerian international, however, has become not only Milan&#8217;s best midfielder, but one of the most consistent midfielders in all of Italy. He showed signs of this at Empoli last season but solidified his standing this season.<\/p>\n<p>As a matter of fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/real-madrid\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Real Madrid<\/a> Ballon d&#8217;Or winner <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/6025fab1\/Luka-Modric\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Modri\u0107<\/a> recently <a href=\"https:\/\/fennecfootball.com\/ac-milan-luka-modric-declare-flamme-a-ismael-bennacer\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a> that Bennacer was one of his favourite footballers in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/category\/serie-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Serie A<\/a>. That&#8217;s high praise coming from one of the most talented footballers of the last generation. That same praise, however, is <a href=\"http:\/\/thepeoplesperson.com\/2020\/06\/14\/ismael-bennacer-manchester-united-in-the-hunt-for-45-million-star-215574\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared by<\/a> many other football clubs, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/manchester-united\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Manchester United<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bennacer isn&#8217;t going to score several goals or endlessly supply assists. His production goes a lot further than simple statistics. He&#8217;s the heartbeat of the team&#8217;s midfield and has done a splendid job with little help. Milan must focus on building a midfield around him now.<\/p>\n<h3>Theo Hern\u00e1ndez &#8211; The New Maldini?<\/h3>\n<p>The former Madrid youngster has dazzled in his first season with Milan. Like Bennacer, <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/d4c9725f\/Theo-Hernandez\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Theo Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> was a very shrewd pick up by Milan last summer. His lighting pace, relentless energy, passion for his team, and an uncanny knack for goalscoring from a defender would be welcomed by any team. In fact, it&#8217;s no surprise that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/paris-saint-germain\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.besoccer.com\/new\/the-parc-des-brothers-psg-go-for-lucas-and-theo-847317\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interested<\/a> in his services already.<\/p>\n<p>Milan must avoid any big money temptation. They&#8217;ve struggled mightily at left-back since Paolo Maldini&#8217;s playing days ended, and finally found an already reliable player who has still yet realised his full potential.<\/p>\n<p>As a defender, Hern\u00e1ndez does actually need to improve in defence. But, his attacking skill for a fullback is nearly on par with the best. He can surely become one of the best at his position in the very near future.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"cBBBagRcRj9f3g7mbz2CKg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1202691163\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'cBBBagRcRj9f3g7mbz2CKg',sig:'fJmD37kat_O4RPKv9ncVY2axvc7cFzA-0ScziJOHSfI=',w:'594px',h:'391px',items:'1202691163',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AC Milan have been in a state of limbo for nearly a decade now. The\u00a0Rossoneri\u00a0have not participated in the Champions League since 2014 and seem to go through complete team overhauls after every season. This, of course, is not working. With no lasting foundation, Milan basically &#8216;rebuild&#8217; every summer and expect everything to be solved [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2248,"featured_media":554013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1363,2,5,28],"tags":[49,1184,3985,48,4102,136],"class_list":["post-553908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ac-milan","category-featured","category-serie-a","category-transfers","tag-ac-milan","tag-gianluigi-donnarumma","tag-ismael-bennacer","tag-serie-a","tag-theo-hernandez","tag-world-football"],"modified_by":"Nat Goodlad, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}