Some 48 hours from the January transfer deadline day, Mattia Destro starred in his very own Serie A mercato soap opera, leaving Roma to find a new home at AC Milan.
AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani put on his best-looking gold tie, and began his courting of the Roma striker.
At first Destro coyly refused, professing his love for Roma and imparting his willingness to stay and fight for his place. Galliani did not let up however, opting for more brash advances as he brazenly rang Destro’s doorbell.
“Can you open? I’m outside,” Galliani said to Destro over his cellphone.
The man they called the “transfer guru” had not lost his touch, as Destro agreed to the move on the next day and AC Milan got their man. The figures of the deal are yet unclear but reports suggest Destro sealed a loan move worth €700,000 on Thursday, with AC Milan reserving an option to buy for €16 million.
The question of course is how will Destro fit in his new home? Indeed home has been something of an elusive ideal for the 23-year-old Italian. He seemed to have had found it when he scored 12 goals for Siena in the 2011-12 season, but swiftly made the move to Roma afterwards.
In effect Destro didn’t really leave Siena on particularly good terms, forcing his exit back then.
Destro has now repeated the story in swapping the Giallorossi for the Rossoneri. Destro struggled to find his way in Rudi Garcia’s starting lineup, with 38-year-old Francesco Totti still ruling the roost. It was his lack of opportunity which tempted him towards the greener pastures of Milanello.
But is the grass really any greener? Especially when it comes to an AC Milan side in crisis, sitting 11th in Serie A and 16 points behind the Roma side he left.
Like he tried to at Siena and Roma, Destro will have to find his home in Filippo Inzaghi’s formation. The AC Milan coach has been playing a striker-less 4-3-3 system, with Jeremy Menez as the False No.9. The arrival of Destro should realistically prompt the coach to now shunt his top-scorer (10 goals) out to the wing to accommodate Destro.
Positioning and formation aside though, the real issue here is one of service. Destro is not the type of striker who creates his own opportunities, and thus is reliant on the rest of the team working for him. This would suggest a more preponderant playmaking role for Keisuke Honda, whose position as a central no.10 almost becomes obligatory.
Destro is a prima punta (centre-forward) who relies less on his physicality and more on his movement. He enjoys playing on the shoulder of the last defender and dart into spaces behind the defence. In fairness, these are all attributes that fit well into Inzaghi’s current counter-attacking system.
The question for AC Milan fans of course is why Galliani continues to spend on the forward line, given the obvious issues in midfield and defence.
Sometimes though, conceding goals isn’t necessarily an issue of poor defending… or more clearly it isn’t always solved by defensive solutions. Sometimes it is a consequence of a profligate attack.
AC Milan play so deep, they allow themselves to be put under pressure. Compounded by the fact Inzaghi has been playing with a False No.9 system, scoring goals has also been an issue. A threat like Destro could help drive the opposition back, allow the team to play higher up the pitch, and thus not expose the defence as much as it has.
At the end of the day, Galliani’s intuition might turn out to be the correct one… on the short term at least. Defence usually helps a team stabilise a position at the top of the table. Attack more often allows a team to move up the table. AC Milan will be hoping Destro’s goals can help them do just that.
Follow Ogo Sylla on Twitter at: @RossonerOgo_3
