3 AC Milan Players Who Are Fighting for Their Future in 2015/16

AC Milan are a club in transition. After two consecutive years of missing out on European football, the club has appointed a new coach in Sinisa Mihajlovic and brought in several new players, including talented defensive prospect, Alessio Romagnoli, cultured central midfielder, Andrea Bertolacci and ruthless Colombian striker, Carlos Bacca.

As part of this process of change, the club has also let go of a multitude of fringe squad members, such as Daniele Bonera, Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari and Giampaolo Pazzini, to name a few. However, despite the plethora of departures whizzing through the exit door, plenty of deadwood remains on the Milan payroll.

For the first time in years Milan have invested serious cash ramping up the quality of their squad, though injuries, suspensions and general lack of alternatives occasionally allow the last vestiges of recent underachievement to peek through.

An example of this occurred in Milan’s opening-day 2-0 defeat away to Fiorentina last Sunday when new €20 million signing Bertolacci came off on 70 minutes to be replaced by Antonio Nocerino, a man who has spent the last 18 months stumbling between spells on loan at three different clubs.

Nocerino is one of the many Milan squad members who don’t appear to have any real future with the club. In order to remain with the Rossoneri, these players will have to improve their performances and convince their new coach that they are worth keeping hold of over the course of this season.

Last season Philippe Mexes made plenty of headlines, though for all the wrong reasons. As Filippo Inzaghi chopped and changed his back four, the Frenchman got enough playing time but never convinced.

Not only was he suspended for throttling Stefano Mauri during Milan’s 3-1 defeat to Lazio, but whenever he managed to stay on the pitch, he struggled. Even compared with other defenders whose Milan careers were on the line, he paled.

Per 90 minutes, he lost more tackles and more of his total duels, whilst also committing more fouls and making more defensive errors, than either Alex or Christian Zapata.

On the back of such poor form, it was expected that Milan would allow Mexes’ contract to expire in the summer but, after an impassioned plea from the player to stay, he was afforded another year with the club.

Mexes will turn 34 in March 2016 and with younger talent like Rodrigo Ely and Alessio Romagnoli set to feature prominently, he will find first-team opportunities harder to come by. He must grab every chance he gets if he is to hold any hope of a further contract extension, though the signs are not good.

Another player with a contract set to expire at the end of this season is Riccardo Montolivo. The former Fiorentina playmaker has never really fulfilled expectations since he joined Milan on a free transfer in 2012 and he too could face the exit door if he doesn’t prove himself in the coming months.

Although he was named club captain two years ago Montolivo has, in the last two seasons, missed 39 games through injury. This bad luck, combined with below-average form when in the side, suggests that the 30-year-old Italy international may not have much to offer Milan going forward.

Mihajlovic has turned to Nigel de Jong to act as enforcer behind a midfield trio that so far this season has comprised of Bertolacci, Giacomo Bonaventura and Keisuke Honda. According to Calciomercato (via Football Italia), Roberto Soriano could join from Sampdoria to further boost Milan’s midfield options, further limiting the possible role Montolivo may play.

However, it is worth noting that Mihajlovic recently stated that he felt Montolivo and De Jong could alternate in the deep-lying midfield position.

Based on last season’s statistics, where Montolivo outperformed De Jong in terms of tackles won per 90 minutes and total duels, Montolivo could still do a job in this role. He will have to if he wishes to stay; Milan are moving on and he is close to becoming an irrelevance from the club’s past as opposed to a core component in its future.

While Montolivo and Mexes have had years to forge reputations with Milan, Alessio Cerci has had far less time to ingratiate himself.

After an excellent 2013/14 campaign playing in a withdrawn-striker role behind Ciro Immobile at Torino, Cerci moved to La Liga with Atletico Madrid only to find playing time restricted.

Nonetheless, memories of the previous season were still fresh and he arrived on loan at Milan with high expectations. He was viewed as one of the more exciting captures of last season’s January transfer window as Milan sought to move up the league table.

Eight months on and that optimism has faded badly. Used as an inverted winger for the most part, Cerci hasn’t sparkled in Milan colours although, as Bleacher Report’s own Sam Lopresti points out, he has not been played in his favoured position.

The reaction to Cerci’s coming off the bench in Milan’s Coppa Italia win over Perugia was decidedly harsh. He was booed from the moment he entered the fray, to the point that Mihajlovic himself publicly stood up for the player after the game, speaking with RAI (via Football Italia).

While he may have the favour of his coach in the face of such criticism, another ineffective and uneventful campaign will see Cerci’s Milan future under serious consideration as his 18-month loan deal comes to a conclusion.

So, in a vital year for Milan, each of Mexes, Montolivo and Cerci find themselves in equally critical circumstances on an individual level. With all three free to leave at the end of this season, they must perform or find themselves cast adrift in the next big wave of club clearouts.

All statistics kindly provided by Squawka.