FOCUS: What will Correa bring to Milan?

By Football Italia staff

There has been a mixed reaction amongst the Milan fan base to Angel Correa's move from Atletico Madrid. We asked Football Espana’s Feargal Brennan for a hot take on what they can expect from him...

Angel Correa’s move to Milan has evoked a mixed reaction from Atletico Madrid fans as he brings to an end a five-year stint in the Spanish capital.

The Argentine has earned himself a moniker of a likeable and hardworking figure, but with a lack of consistency, which has undermined his clear potential over the past few seasons.

He has shown flashes of his capabilities, yet the 2018-19 campaign was the death knell for his time at the Wanda Metropolitano, despite the promise of the previous year.

Season 2017-18 saw Correa’s best return in terms of numbers, with eight League goals from 27 starts, as Diego Simeone looked to dovetail the former San Lorenzo man with Antoine Griezmann.

With the France international playing as an unorthodox No 9, the 24-year-old operated in behind, as creator-in-chief for the Barcelona new boy. The partnership worked well as Atletico finished second in La Liga and won the Europa League.

However, Correa was arguably made a scapegoat for the poor performances of his fellow forwards, with a half-fit Diego Costa burning only for a brief amount of time following his suspension-enforced January 2018 arrival.

Yannick Carrasco was well below-par before his February move to China, while Luciano Vietto and Nicolas Gaitan were virtually anonymous.

That forced Simeone into a rethink ahead of 18-19, with Griezmann staying at the club and Thomas Lemar coming in from Monaco.

Lemar’s arrival and Costa’s apparent return to form meant there was little space for Correa in the starting XI as Simeone looked to allow Griezmann to operate in the space created by Costa’s all-action play.

That decision dented Correa’s confidence and, despite seeing a fair portion of first team football last season, the majority of it was off the bench, giving him little time to get into a rhythm.

He has been pushed further down the pecking order by the arrivals of Alvaro Morata and Joao Felix, therefore the writing has been on the wall for the last few weeks regarding his departure.

There is no shortage of talent with Correa, and he is adept as playing as a deep-lying forward or out wide, but the onus will be on the Rossoneri to create and maintain an environment that allows him to have a more prominent role.

Marco Giampaolo has been canny in the transfer market, looking to address areas of his squad that need padding out ahead of the new Serie A season, with Theo Hernandez arriving from the other side of Madrid.

The attacker arrives in Italy with something to prove after a low-key end to his time in Spain, and if Giampaolo can light a fire in him, he will have a real player on his hands.

Simeone is undoubtedly one of the best motivators in world football but, given the lack of football he was able to offer Correa in the last 18 months, it was inevitable he would begin to have problems with maintaining form.

Despite his talents as a No 10, Giampaolo will likely deploy Correa out wide, as he was at the start of his spell with Atleti.

That seems like a sensible idea as Correa looks to find his feet in Italy and Giampaolo looks to get his methods settled at San Siro.

Space between defensive midfield and central defenders comes at a premium in Serie A and, given Correa’s lack of physicality and tendency to frustrate at times, a wider role offers more flexibility and less pressure.

His ability to beat players one-on-one is excellent, and that is where Giampaolo will get the best from Correa – allowing him the opportunity to get on the other side of full-backs and create chances for Krzysztof Piatek and co.

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