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Five possible destinations for Samuel Umtiti in January

By Parth Jhaveri

Samuel Umtiti of FC Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League group B match between FC Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven at the Camp Nou stadium on September 18, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain.(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images)
Samuel Umtiti of FC Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League group B match between FC Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven at the Camp Nou stadium on September 18, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain.(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images) /
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AC Milan:

Milan are still reminiscing the glorious period of Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini, arguably the best defence pair that ever existed. But gone are those golden days, what now lies at San Siro is a club that is desperate to return to the clutches of European football.

The defenders that have arrived at Milan post the Maldini-Nesta era have not even lived up to 1 per cent of expectations. There have been some exceptions though; defenders who have given us a glimpse of their top-notch talent with current club captain Alessio Romagnoli suiting the profile. Romagnoli has been astute in the Rossoneri defence but lacks a trustable partner.

https://twitter.com/brfootball/status/1086904662127714304?lang=en

Mateo Musacchio, the Argentine has never looked a durable player in the Milan squad. Signed in 2017 from Villareal, the 29-year-old lacks the instincts and capacity to fill the gaps. He is soon approaching the barrier of 30 and will lose his skills to the age. Mattia Caldara was signed from Juventus in order to fill in the role of a fine centre back.

Caldara, however, has had injury problems of his own with the Italian suffering two massive injuries at Milan- cruciate ligament rupture and Achilles tendon rupture forcing the 25-year-old to spend most of his Milan career on the bench. In totality, Caldara has missed a total of 44 games for Milan due to threatening injuries since his arrival in 2018.

Samuel Umtiti presents a better option to Stefano Pioli’s side than Musacchio and Caldara. Romagnoli and Umtiti together can form a strong partnership and safeguard the Milan backline. Umtiti’s arrival may help Milan win their personal battle with city rivals Inter who are currently housing some of the best centre backs like Milan Skriniar, Diego Godin and Stefan de Vrij.

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