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Milan have lost Malick Thiaw for the foreseeable future due to a serious thigh injury, but they won’t bring in a free agent to compensate for his absence. They are down to just one pure center-back, Fikayo Tomori. Pierre Kalulu, Simon Kjaer, Marco Pellegrini, and Mattia Caldara are on the mend as well. The Dane is dealing with a minor problem.

Per Gianluca Di Marzio, the Rossoneri will simply promote Jan-Carlo Simic from their Primavera squad for now. They acquired him from Stuttgart for €1M in August 2022. He has logged 19 appearances with the U-19 team, plus 13 more in the Youth League.

Milan were already in the market for a new defender before Thiaw got hurt, as Kalulu will be out long-term. They were primarily seeking somebody on loan with an option to buy to have time to evaluate before eventually spending. That could change only if ownership approved an extra budget.

Their brass had a long meeting with Stefano Pioli on Wednesday. The boss was confirmed on the bench. He should see the season out unless things really spiraled.

Our Take on the Milan Strategy After Thiaw Got Hurt

While they could have settled for a flier for more depth beforehand, they need a dependable contributor who’d be ready to play pronto now. Jakub Kiwior would be the best option among those linked to them, but it’ll probably be hard to convince Arsenal to let him go. It’ll be arduous to find the right man without a proper investment.

This article first appeared on The Cult of Calcio and was syndicated with permission.

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