The curious case of Andre Silva

Now that the Milan management team is settled and Marco Giampaolo has been officially announced as head coach, we should look at players on the squad that have some question marks surrounding them. One of the biggest question marks on the squad is striker Andre Silva. There have been rumours that Silva might stay at Milan this season as Marco Giampaolo might try to pair him up with prolific striker Krzysztof Piatek. First we will look at how Silva performed at Milan during his initial season.

A first season of disappointment

When Andre Silva arrived at AC Milan from FC Porto there was a lot of hype around the player. In the 16/17 season Silva scored 21 goals and assisted 8 in 44 appearances. His performances on the National team even led to Cristiano Ronaldo crowning him the heir to the Portuguese national team. Silva looked to be a promising player and Milan snatched him up for a rumoured 30 million euros.

Well the first season at Milan for Silva didn't go quite as he planned. With both Vincenzo Montella and Gennaro Gattuso, Silva did not get opportunities to play and when he did get the chance he was not impressive. In 40 appearances Silva scored just 10 goals with most of them coming in the Europa League. At the end of the year Silva was frustrated at Milan and wanted more playing time. So what did Milan do, well they gave him an opportunity for a fresh start.

A rollercoaster year in Spain

Silva’s loan spell at Sevilla FC was one of the most strange loan spells for a player in soccer. Silva had a great start at Sevilla scoring a hat trick in his very first match. Silva then continued his fairly hot start by scoring four goals in six games. He then went ice cold scoring two goals for the rest of the season. After such a hot start it was disappointing to see Silva barely score for the rest of the year. However this wasn't the worst part of his loan spell.

One of the weirdest parts of Silva’s year at Sevilla was near the end of the year where some reports where released accusing Silva of faking an injury. Of course Silva continually denied these allegations, he maintained he was genuinely injured and he expressed his interest in returning to Milan. Now Silva is back at Milan but what should the team do with him.

A bright future in a new system?

New hire Marco Giampaolo is rumoured to bring in his 4-3-1-2 formation. Now will this formation and pairing with Piatek suit Silva. It seems as if Giampaolo sees something in Silva and wants to test him out in his formation. Silva will most likely play as a second striker which could emphasize his talents. Even with Silva having two rocky seasons he still possess a lot of quality. Silva is able to help with build up as he is a good passer of the ball.

Another important quality Silva possesses is his agility and pace. Now Silva is not the most pacy player but on this Milan squad he would be faster than most other players. This injection of pace could add another element in attack. Silva and Piatek could be a good partnership for Milan under Giampaolo with Silva’s quality on the ball and Piatek’s superb movement. At the moment the value on Silva isn't very high, so why not give Giampaolo a chance to work with him and see what he could do. If Silva does stay at the club hopefully he is able to reach his full potential.

Let us know in the comments should Silva stay or should he go?