Despite a summer that saw AC Milan spend an eye-watering €230m, it has been the story of Patrick Cutrone that has caught the headlines early on this season. The 19-year-old joined the first team from the club’s Primavera for the pre-season preparations, netting a brace against Bayern Munich in a friendly and scoring twice in Milan’s qualifiers for the Europa League.
Cutrone’s excellent start earned him a place in the starting eleven for their Serie A opener against Crotone, where he scored a superb near post header and stunned fans the following week with an early tap in to make it two goals in two games.
While there is little doubt Cutrone has made a case for himself as the club’s star striker, Milan are competing on various fronts this campaign with Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the Europa League.
It is therefore imperative that the squad offer a level of depth and competitiveness to ensure coach Vincenzo Montella is able to draw on a number of different options. This has seen Milan end the summer transfer window with quite a large squad, retaining the likes of Jose Mauri and Gustavo Gomez who seemed set to leave. Montella has named both in his 23-man squad for the group stage of the Europa League, as well as seven UEFA B listed players.
Among those listed on the UEFA B list are the aforementioned Cutrone, fellow youth graduates Gianluigi Donnarumma, Manuel Locatelli, Davide Calabria and three new names: Niccolo Zanellato, Matteo Gabbia and Alessandro Guarnone.
With the sudden change in financial backing at the club, it is easy to forget Milan had undergone a massive overhaul of their youth development system. The days of free spending under Silvio Berlusconi a distant memory, the Milan management attempted to revive the club’s fortunes with a new focus on introducing youth players to the first team. It became commonplace for youngsters to make the substitutes bench.
Over recent years Milan fans have seen the likes of Bryan Cristante and Andrea Petagna, both youth graduates and frequent members of the first team, spurned in favour of established regulars. This, naturally, lead to some disillusionment among the Rossoneri faithful as to the true nature of the youth development scheme.
Countless youngsters have progressed through the academy system only to be shunned, famous examples including Alessandro Matri and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. With the rein of Berlusconi at the helm coming to an end, the introduction of Donnarumma, Locatelli and Calabria signalled the beginning of a potential new cycle at the club.
All three have impressed, in particular Donnarumma who, at 18, has become the club’s second highest earner behind Leonardo Bonucci. Locatelli won the instant affection of fans with winning goals against Sassuolo and Juventus in his debut season, while Calabria has effectively filled the boots of Mattia De Sciglio, who departed for Juventus this summer.
Of the three new additions to the first team, Niccolo Zanellato is perhaps the best known and most highly thought of among Milan fans, playing the entirety of the club’s Europa League qualifier against Macedonian side KF Shkendija.
The 19-year-old midfielder, who was born in the city of Milan, stands at just under 6’4 and signed a professional contract with the Rossoneri in 2014. A well-rounded, energetic player, Zanellato has impressed in his brief appearances. As one of the more distinguished products of the Primavera, Zanellato has been followed by a number of clubs for some time. His early involvement in European competitions could prove vital in the months ahead, with a limited number of midfield positions at Montella’s disposal. Otherwise there is always the versatility of Matteo Gabbia to plug midfield gaps.
One of many youngsters in the Lombardy region that were snapped up by the Rossoneri youth academy, Gabbia is just 17-years old but appears to have a bright future ahead of him. He generally plays as a centre-back, but can operate anywhere along the defensive line and played in midfield during his debut against Shkendija.
His advancement through the Italian youth ranks is particularly impressive, with ten appearances for the Under-19 squad already under his belt. With just over 15 minutes played on his Europa League debut, fans will certainly want to see what Gabbia has to offer going forward.
Lastly, there’s goalkeeper Alessandro Guarnone, who largely owes his inclusion in the first team to the departure of Alessandro Plizzari to Ternana on loan.
There can be little doubt the Rossoneri have every intention of keeping hold of Plizzari, despite the clear supremacy of Donnarumma, as they saw fit to include him in team sheets and field him during friendly appearances. As a result, the future of Guarnone at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza is far less certain. With the fierce competition Milan now have in the goalkeeping department, a loan spell away from the club could be on the horizon.
With the continued injection of youth products in the shape of Cutrone at the San Siro, fans will be hoping this is a trend that’s set to continue. While not all players that progress from the academy can make the cut, this at least appears progressive.
