OPINION: Milan Linked with Moves for Sassuolo Midfielders Duncan and Sensi

AC Milan are interested in Sassuolo midfield duo Sensi and Duncan, here we take a look at who Milan should pursue and why.

Stefano Sensi - CM - €25 million

Sensi has been doing the rounds on the Milan rumour mill over the past month or so as a top target for Leonardo. Sensi is having somewhat of a breakout season at Sassuolo where he has impressed under De Zerbi and solidified himself as a regular. He received his maiden Italy call-up in a friendly against the US and has demonstrated incredible potential as a segundo volante or a mezzalla. Sensi is young and can alternate between a defensive and a playmaking role. He stands out for his incredible ability to intercept the ball and put in key passes especially lay-offs. The major weakness in his game is his tackling and ball retention possibly due to his relatively small size.

Alfred Duncan - CDM/CM - €20 million

Duncan emerged as a target for Milan in the past week or so as an alternative to Sensi due to his lower price tag and the greater potential for a deal due to Bourabia’s presence at Sassuolo. Duncan is a powerful and dynamic midfielder who has a fixture in the Serie A since the 2013/14 season. Duncan is similar to Kessie playing as a box-to-box midfielder however he excels as a defensive midfielder due to his strong proclivity to put in hard tackles and holding the ball in the midfield. Duncan has one distinctive trait that Kessie and Bakayoko do not possess, his long passing is phenomenal. Duncan has been a key prong in Sassuolo’s counter-attacking strategy by putting in key passes forward to the pacy wingers.

Duncan and Sensi have been playing alongside Manuel Locatelli rounding off a physical Sassuolo midfield in a 4-3-3 where the midfield essentially operates as a 3-4-2-1 in attack, as Locatelli slips between the two CBs and Duncan and Sensi play as CMs to swiftly move the ball forward from the defense to the attack. The midfield trio have performed well this term receiving very positive ratings of 7.2 (Sensi), 7.2 (Duncan) and 7.1 (Locatelli) from whoscored.com.

In my opinion, neither of these moves makes much sense for Milan due to the Locatelli situation and FFP rules. Sensi and Duncan are very similar in style to Bakayoko and Kessie in the roles they would hold at Milan, playmaking CM and box-to-box midfielder respectively. Duncan and Kessie are similar but I would prefer Kessie to Duncan as he delivers more in the attack and is a more balanced midfielder. Bakayoko and Sensi hold a similar position but have varying playing styles but I would once again pick Bakayoko as he has settled into the Milan squad whereas Sensi is more of a project for the future. Overall, it seems Milan jumped the gun with Locatelli, as he would be the ideal backup for the Milan midfield thus Milan made a mistake in including an obligation to buy in his contract. Most importantly, both signings seem to be invalidated by the arrival of Lucas Paqueta as each Milan midfielder now holds a specific primary role as follows: Bakayoko (Defending), Kessie (Holding) and Paqueta (Attacking).