Do AC Milan Have the Best Young Team in Europe Right Now?

One of the major difficulties many top-tier football clubs face is combining the need for short-term results with a sustainable strategy. It’s easy to lose sight of the long-term future when each weekend presents the expectation of another three points. In such circumstances, youth policy can become a mere afterthought. This is not the case with AC Milan, however.

The Rossoneri have endured a torrid three seasons. With no European competition, no silverware and no defined style of play, the club have fallen from the top of Serie A into the morass of mid-table. But there has been one shining light amid the overarching darkness: the progress of some potentially world-class young players.

Over the years, Milan have spurned many a promising talent. Manchester United full-back Matteo Darmian and Borussia Dortmund goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are the two highest-profile examples of the club’s past developmental profligacy.

Those times are definitively in the past, though, and it could even be argued that the Rossoneri now have the finest selection of young players on the continent.

2015-16 was a season of underachievement. After a summer of heavy spending and the appointment of a new and respected head coach in Sinisa Mihajlovic, things looked rosy, but average results coupled with dull football culminated in the Serb’s dismissal in April.

Eventually, Milan finished in seventh place and lost in the Coppa Italia final to Juventus, leading to the hiring of Vincenzo Montella and the ushering in of a new era.

Mihajlovic’s tenure was forgettable, yet while for many his term in charge represented a failure, he did bring about one particularly positive change. He gave youth a chance, a decision that the club could benefit from in the years to come.

His most high-profile promotion came in the aftermath to a 1-1 draw away to Torino. Diego Lopez had conceded a soft equaliser at his near post to cap off a nervy start to the campaign, and he was dropped in favour of Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was just 16 years of age at the time.

The youngster made the goalkeeping position his own to justify Mihajlovic’s faith in him. Along the way, he established himself as one of the most exciting prospects in world football.

Donnarumma grew as a player in a short space of time, adding composure on the ball and in the air to his imposing physique and exceptional reactions. In some fixtures, such as Milan’s 2-1 defeat to Verona in late April, he was almost impossible to breach, producing save after save to keep his team in the game.

Just a little vine to show appreciation to @gigiodonna1 https://t.co/avZny43CR5

— Kais (@ThisIsKais) August 4, 2016

When the 17-year-old shot-stopper came face-to-face with Gianluigi Buffon for the first time in competitive action, it was seen as a symbolic moment—almost a passing of the torch. And the Juventus and Italy icon didn’t hold back in praising a player who many see as …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com