What Can Andre Silva Provide Milan In Attack?

Andre Silva is headed to Milan? What can he bring to Milan’s attack? Image: Getty

It seems that Milan have finally secured their first signing for their attack, acquiring the services of Porto forward Andre Silva for €38 million. What can the twenty-one year old bring to Milan’s offense? Let’s see.

Young Stars = Potential

Milan had the youngest team in the league last season, and it seems like they will continue that approach with this signing. Donnarumma, Romagnoli, and Locatelli are all stars for the future, and the more youth, the better. Of course, they may not have much experience in terms of big matches, and Milan may have to sign some older, more experienced players like Biglia to help them grow and mature.

Andre Silva is probably Portugal’s best striking hope in years, and if he can grow and prosper with the Rossoneri, Milan may just have a world class talent on their hands.

Scoring Presence

While at Porto, Silva scored 20 goals in 40 appearances, including four in the Champions League, a pretty impressive tally for such a young talent. He also netted six goals in the World Cup qualifiers for Portugal, proving that he can be a force even on the international scale. These figures are impressive for any player, and it would be a huge boost for the Rossoneri to have a forward who they can rely on day in and day out.

Since Bacca’s recent slump and the failure of Lapadula or Niang to make up for the lack of scoring, Milan have looked pretty lazy in attack, Gerard Deulofeu and Suso providing the few goals that Milan scored in the latter part of the season. Andre Silva is fast, strong, and always in the right position. While his finishing may not be the best, and he has plenty of things to work on, Silva has plenty of time to learn, and with the proposed five year contract, he should be able to do it at Milan.

Opportunity For More

It seems as though Milan have opted to purchase two strikers rather than one, perhaps adding Belotti or someone else. Since Silva only cost Mirabelli and Fassone €38 million, it liberates some room for other purchases. Whether this money is directed towards the attack or other areas of the pitch, or perhaps for future years is up to the Milan management. Andre Silva has all the tools to develop into a great player, and he’s practically half the price of Morata, Belotti, and Aubameyang, the other attackers that Milan were rumored to be interested in.

Andre Silva also works best in a two striker formation. If these funds are directed towards a cheaper partner, possibly Kalinic or even Diego Costa on a loan before he departs for Atletico Madrid, Milan could have a serious striking duo on their hands. Considering how well Mirabelli and Fassone have done for Milan in the first couple weeks of this mercato, there’s no telling who Milan will buy in the upcoming weeks.

Andre Silva is an extraordinary talent. Whether he’ll boom or bust depends on the player himself. For €38 million, Milan may have gotten a really good bargain or yet another flop. Potential is something Milan have plenty of, and if all these players can perform well and continue to grow, who knows — we may just see Milan back in the latter stages of European competition sometime soon.