Less than two months have passed since Milan AZ proposed Vangelis Pavlidis. This happened under special circumstances, on the eve of the closing of the summer transfer window and while the “Rossoneri” were looking for a striker after the failure of their talks with their main target, the Iranian from Porto, Mehdi Taremi.

Then the Milanese went around Europe shaking up lists and proposals, with a maximum budget of 15 million euros at their disposal. That’s what they offered to the Dutch team (including bonuses), with no room for negotiation. AZ declined, Milan found…walls everywhere and turned to the option of necessity with the addition of Luka Jovic for a year (as we see).

But the needs of the “rosoneri” were not met. Barely. Olivier Giroud has turned 37 and regardless of whether he decides to stay at Milan beyond the end of the current season, his role will inevitably be reduced once his contract expires.

If he extends – it is not certain at the moment – Milan will sign a striker who, along with the acquisition of Noah Okafor in the summer, will be considered first choice in the rotation, while the Frenchman is now considered a reserve player. If Giroud doesn’t stay at “San Siro”, then Milan will change for two strikers (Jovic is not in the squad given his previous performances).

Whatever the case, the name of this year’s Eredivisie top scorer (along with Feyenoord’s Santiago Jimenez) remains high on their list. Monitoring is carried out constantly and attentively, no longer at the level of control, but of monitoring progress under the most demanding conditions.

This was the case last night when they hosted Aston Villa in the Conference League (with the Villagers showing their strength with a 4-1 win). For this reason, a Milan scout took the opportunity and was in Alkmaar to watch the game focused exclusively on “Pauli” (ss) However, regardless of the “goal”, there was a parade of scouts on the field. Half of the Bundlesliga teams had their eyes on the AFAS stands, many also on the representation of Italian clubs – Atalanta in a prominent position).

The wish of the newly appointed sports director Geoffrey Moncada (promoted from the position of head of scouting at the beginning of the fall) would be Lille striker Jonathan David, but the demands of the “Lilois” (+50 million euros). ) exceed any realistic current financial performance of Milan, without the traditionally good relationships between the two teams (Rafael Leao and Mike Menian were bought from there) would change the prohibitive financial framework for Milan that comes with the Canadian striker.

Taremi’s case appears to have “frozen” after the events of the summer, leading to an episodic “breakdown” of negotiations. Furthermore, the fact that the Iranian remains free in June does not help as competition has increased. It is even said that the Rossoneri’s compatriot Inter gained a clear advantage by signing himself in January (with a purchase from Porto).

Somehow, the Greek international striker always remains – knowingly – in the top selection of the Serie A runners-up, who even (in good time) ensures that his presence reminds both AZ and the 24-year-old’s own team of their pickiness.

And so the Milanese know first-hand that, on the one hand, the Dutch team will not sell Pavlidis in the coming January transfer window (but in the summer) without this changing anything in the status of the 24-year-old striker (their transfer hierarchy, anything else) and that their claims finally exceed 20 million euros (an amount that is intended to represent Milan’s upper limit, at least for the time being).