{"id":561785,"date":"2020-08-13T05:42:24","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T09:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=561785"},"modified":"2020-08-13T05:42:24","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T09:42:24","slug":"report-two-la-liga-targets-for-ac-milan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/08\/13\/report-two-la-liga-targets-for-ac-milan\/","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: Two La Liga Targets for AC Milan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/ac-milan\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AC Milan<\/a> will definitely be active in the upcoming transfer window. The\u00a0<em>Rossoneri<\/em>, along with now permanent manager <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/2020\/07\/22\/ac-milan-extends-stefano-piolis-contract\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stefano Pioli<\/a>, had a magnificent run of form to finish the season. This got Milan into the Europa League and had them jump all the way up to sixth in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/category\/serie-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Serie A<\/a> table.<\/p>\n<p>With this being said, that&#8217;s still not enough for Milan. The historic club needs to be back in the Champions League. Here are two <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/category\/la-liga\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La Liga<\/a> targets that can help get them there.<\/p>\n<h2>Two La Liga Targets for AC Milan<\/h2>\n<h3>Marc Roca<\/h3>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mundodeportivo.com\/futbol\/rcd-espanyol\/20200714\/482315429088\/espanyol-marc-roca-milan-arsenal-fichaje-mercado.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mundo Deportivo<\/a>, Milan have a heavy interest in Espanyol midfielder, <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/da27e268\/Marc-Roca\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Roca<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Espanyol finished last in La Liga this season and will be relegated. For that reason alone it&#8217;s a given that Roca will be sold.<\/p>\n<p>At 23-years-old, Roca is a young, deep-lying playmaker. He possesses excellent vision and patience on the ball, allowing him to break down opposing defences. He lives for long through balls to his attackers, something that will surely be welcomed as Milan displayed an outstanding attack during the league&#8217;s restart.<\/p>\n<p>Besides his creativity, Roca is quite strong defensively. He has plenty of experience as a defensive midfielder with Espanyol. Roca&#8217;s confidence in this aspect of his game allows him to move freely throughout the midfield and not stick to one spot on the field. This is a very important facet of his game, as he is still young but knows he can be one of the top players on the pitch. It&#8217;s important to note that Roca is both tall and has more strength than his frame may suggest.<\/p>\n<p>The qualities he has shown are somewhat similar to current Milan midfielder, <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/db092d3b\/Ismael-Bennacer\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ismael Bennacer<\/a>. Both players are young but are not afraid to take leadership in their position. They also take great pride in both sides of the field.<\/p>\n<p>It would come as no surprise if Pioli decided to move forward with a two-man midfield of Bennacer and <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/05e19d6a\/Franck-Kessie\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Franck Kessie<\/a>. Roca, however, is an excellent squad player who has the quality to create healthy competition in the midfield. The Spaniard should be on the top of many team&#8217;s La Liga targets lists.<\/p>\n<h3>Emerson de Souza<\/h3>\n<p>Milan&#8217;s defence saw a drastic improvement during the restart. Before that, however, the goalkeeper, left-back, and one centre-back position were solidified. <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/8b8a56ce\/Simon-Kjaer\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Simon Kjaer<\/a> earned another centre-back position, so now the glaring hole is the right-back position.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Barcelona<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/df8b52a5\/Emerson\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Emerson<\/a> is a great fit, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mundodeportivo.com\/futbol\/fc-barcelona\/20200704\/482064534416\/el-barca-quiere-vender-a-emerson.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mundo Deportivo<\/a> also reports that the club is willing to sell. The Brazilian just finished a strong campaign on loan at Real Betis. In 33 appearances, he managed to score three goals and provide six assists from the defence. This would fit well with Milan&#8217;s electrifying left-back in Theo Hernandez.<\/p>\n<p>Emerson has been likened to Dani Alves in the past. Of course, these comparisons are premature, but it&#8217;s not hard to see why they were made. Emerson is very solid on both sides of the ball and has plenty of time to grow as he is just 21. His first professional season was already a success.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/2146785a\/Davide-Calabria\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Davide Calabria<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/8fef5412\/Andrea-Conti\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrea Conti<\/a> are no longer strong options for Milan. One can be kept for depth, but neither can rely upon enough to be starters. They also have a tendency to struggle with fitness. For this reason, Emerson must be at the top of Milan&#8217;s La Liga targets list.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona could opt to seek a loan. A talent like Emerson is not always easy to come by. Milan could accept this to help in their Champions League pursuit but should opt for a permanent purchase.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"3msgE9GMRXhbie6plIC91A\" 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\/1258949622\" 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:'3msgE9GMRXhbie6plIC91A',sig:'KjK0pIHqZZ-C7eN6m5i11OTQNkUDnha3T0hdU-iL2IM=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1258949622',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 will definitely be active in the upcoming transfer window. The\u00a0Rossoneri, along with now permanent manager Stefano Pioli, had a magnificent run of form to finish the season. This got Milan into the Europa League and had them jump all the way up to sixth in the Serie A table. With this being said, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2248,"featured_media":561811,"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":[1363,6,30,5],"tags":[49,464,3371,692,3984,1665,136],"class_list":["post-561785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ac-milan","category-la-liga","category-news","category-serie-a","tag-ac-milan","tag-barcelona","tag-emerson","tag-espanyol","tag-marc-roca","tag-real-betis","tag-world-football"],"modified_by":"Dale Ventham, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561785","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=561785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}