AC Milan’s one-month chase of American midfielder Yunus Musah is reportedly coming to its conclusion.
The Rossoneri will add Musah on a permanent deal from La Liga side Valencia, CBS Sports reported Sunday. Valencia is expected to receive a fee of around €20 million, with add-ons included, according to the report.
AC Milan had been linked with Musah since early-July as part of a lengthy list of transfer targets this summer.
Musah and Valencia fought off relegation from La Liga this past season, with the American midfielder struggling for consistency down the stretch. He made 37 combined appearances for Valencia in 2022-23, registering two assists.
Musah has totaled 108 combined appearances for Valencia, scoring five goals and registering three assists. The former Arsenal academy player has grown into a top talent for the USMNT, earning 24 caps and lifting the Concacaf Nations League title on two occasions (2021, 2023).
AC Milan will join USMNT teammate Christian Pulisic, who also joined this summer from EPL club Chelsea. The Rossoneri finished fourth in Serie A this past season, clinching them a spot in the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Stefano Pioli’s squad opens their Serie A schedule on August 21 against Bologna.
I like Musah’s ability and think he’ll do well with AC Milian. He’s still fairly young @ 20 so there is still plenty of opportunity for him to develop as either an 8 or a 6.
Right now he’s kind of a tweener….not disciplined enough to be a lone 6, but not effective enough creating to be a true 8 either.
I do believe that the recent NL games against Mexico & Canada have highlighted the USMNT’s need to move to a 4-2-3-1 formation where Reyna is the 10. But it create a question of what to do with either Musah or McKennie once Adams returns from injury. However, with Tyler’s injury history we could still see plenty of games w/ McKennie & Musah in the double pivot. One way or another one of Musah, McKennie, or Adams will be an option off the bench to inject fresh legs.
In order, to play the 6, you have to use 3 mirrors when driving. Are we sure Musah looks at all 3 mirrors when he’s playing the 6? NL semifinal v El Tri, he ran to the top of the 18, in the defensive 1/3, to receive the ball, and Turner (per usual) passed to him, got dispossessed by the player directly behind him and it led to a shot attempt, that was eventually blocked by Turner. His vision has to be much better than what we saw in 2 matches in this year’s NL. That’s 1 out of many mistakes that Captain Adams and other 6s don’t make!
new favorite team
Yunus is versatile. He’s excellent on the turn, tough, can connect, and keen understanding of tactics demonstrated by how he has proven himself at both the 8 and the 6
no reason to plot him into ONLY one or the other imo. his versatily is, I would bet, one of his appealing characteristics to any buyer. remember him exploding onto the team as an 8? he didn’t suck at it. his hybrid abilities give his coaches more than one good option…we love more than one good option 🙂
anyway, happy for him and what an opportunity!
Forza Milan, andiamo!!
Musah looked great at the 6 against Mexico. I wonder where they will use him?
I personally think he’s a 6 and I suspect most pro scouts would view him the same way. He’s stout, physical, fast, and has great range, and he’s exceptional on the ball and has one of the most valuable skillsets there is in soccer – he can break lines and advance the ball like few others.
He is also absolutely zero threat to score and he’s not any kind of presence in the box. Some guys I refer to as “shoebox players” and can play in tiny spaces…Musah is not one of those. He also doesn’t have a particularly good shot from distance.
If you’re going to be an 8 or especially a 10, you’d better present some offensive threat and Musah just doesn’t. But I would still really, really want him as my 6. In an ideal world you’d like him to have a shot from distance like Jermaine Jones did but he does most everything else you want from your 6 very well…and Jones did not have Musah’s ability to break lines, either.
i generally agree with the shoebox term and how it works on him. i see him as either a wing or a 6. i wouldn’t be surprised if he could also play wingback given those skillsets.
personally i am a fan of tactics with division of labor and so i disdain having nominal AM/8s who can’t produce squat. nagbe’s reign coincides with one of the worst periods in team history. to me if you have an ineffective 10 plus an 8 who is good at soccer but no offense happens, you will struggle for goals. not a fan of “double 8” ideas as they try and finesse division of labor. i want more 10 qualities in the AMs and then decide your balance with how many 6s.
i thought we looked good with two 6s and an actual 10 at NL. musah then needs to be a 6 or a back or something, considering adams will eventually return. something like what you say. the NT in general has played more like twin 8s with a single adams 6 but that sputtered at qatar IMO. the fanboys seem to usually be stuck right where the last big game was — so they are still advocating the qatar set of players. i hope this is evolving and someone more like pulisic or reyna gets the 10 driver’s seat. assuming one exists when GB gets his job back.
personally i think mckennie should be a “danger sub” because he’s sloppy but he poaches. i’d like to see aaronson and green get some looks as swiss army attackers. i don’t see much point to LDLT and sonora.
re pulisic, i’ve been touting him as a 9 or 10 for a while with no effect but now that ACM is trying him as a 10, the “follower” element at the NT may see spades as broken and try it.
“re pulisic, i’ve been touting him as a 9 or 10 for a while with no effect but now that ACM is trying him as a 10, the “follower” element at the NT may see spades as broken and try i”
Trying to credit for ideas that aren’t yours again?
The USMNT early on gave him more free reign than just being a left wing. That’s very similar to what Donovan did.
And when he first got to Chelsea, Fat Frank moved him closer to Giroud and to the goal, told him he needed to work on his finishing and score more. That period was probably his best at Chelsea.
And it was probably an attempt to get him to be more like Hazard was. Actually a winger moved to center forward but spending much of his timing drifting out the to the left wing? That’s Thierry Henry. Or more recently “Turbo Timo” Werner, albeit much less successfully.
Unlike Gio, Pulisic isn’t skilled enough to be a true #10 but he can sort of fake it well enough. My guess is Leao, more skilled, will wind up at the #10 and Pulisic will work the left wing.
I’m sure those two can figure it out better than any of us.
I absolutely think Musah is a 6/8 hybrid. And I do think he has the ability and will become more goal dangerous as he develops. Reminds me a lot of Darlington Nagbe and NGolo Kante
he was awesome
he was awesome against Mexico playing the 8 before the World Cup
guy’s a baller
Nice! AC Milan has done really well in the transfer market this summer. Reportedly still trying to battle Inter for Balogun too.