Milan prodigy Hachim Mastour is considered one of the rossoneri’s best talents. He has been rumoured to have captured the interest of some of the biggest clubs in Europe, and a summer transfer is now looking like a possibility.
After a few years of pursuing the spare parts of other teams via free transfers and loans, Milan has shown signs of life by actually buying players during the summer transfer window. While the focus has been on spending and shedding payroll by letting go unwanted players, has the time now come for Milan to sell players for profit?
One player that has been linked with a potential sale is attacking midfielder Hachim Mastour. Acquired in 2012 from Reggiana for 850,000 euros, the 17 year-old prodigy has been linked to a move to some of Europe’s biggest clubs. PSG are the latest giants with reported interest in Mastour, and are rumoured to have made an offer of 5M euros for the young talent, a nice return on investment by Milan.
You can learn more about Mastour in our youth report.
Is this the right time for Milan to cash in? Should Milan keep Mastour or let him go? There are pros and cons for either scenario.
Let’s recall that players are like stocks, you want to buy low and sell high for a profit.
Milan needs to try to keep its balance sheet clean. Last season ended with a deficit of 92M euros and this can’t be sustained going forward – even if the sale of a minority interest to the consortium of Mr. Bee goes through and additional capital will become available for investing. Managing the assets and getting maximum value from them (by playing them to get victories or selling for profit) will always be imperative for the health of the club.
Has Mastour reached his peak value? Is there room for growth? At such a young age and with so little playing experience with the senior club his future potential is unknown. Selling now could be considered a great move if Mastour never realizes his potential. However this is very risky, as most footballers peak at the age of 26 or 27.
Is Mastour a legitimate prospect, or is he just a youtube sensation who competed in freestyle skills and beat Neymar? This is where a scout earns his money, asking a club to invest in a young player (which Milan has done for Mastour paying a hefty price for him) and predicting the player’s future potential.
There are some who argue that Mastour has been unable to earn his spot with the senior squad as proof of his lack of potential, while others feel he is over rated. Is that fair to say for a 17 year-old youngster? Or should talent should trump age? After all, the famous quote from Sir Matt Busby, written on the wall of Manchester United’s dressing room is “if you are good enough you are old enough.”
How many 17 year-olds have been given ample playing time on Serie A teams? If we look at last season, Pippo Inzaghi (who used to coach Milan’s primavera squad) didn’t even give the kids a chance to play at the end of the season when there was nothing else to play for. It would be premature to give up so soon on a prospect, especially one like Mastour who has been plagued with injuries and has not played sufficient games to see him progress with his development. In fact, he just played eight games with the primavera last season.
Milan’s roster is stacked up front, and it will be difficult for Mastour to crack the lineup as there are older, more experienced players currently playing in a similar role. It will be unfair to expect him to beat out Suso, Honda or Bonaventura (to name a few) at this stage of his development. Just because there is no room for him now, does not necessarily mean he should be sold.
There are prior examples of teams that regret selling their prospects, take Pogba for example. Was it a case of Manchester United lacking patience, or incorrectly predicting what Pogba’s future potential was when they sold him to Juventus? Some will say that hindsight is 20/20. But for every Pogba, there are many cases of players who become a bust. I am not suggesting Mastour will be the next Pogba
What about his desires and ambitions? This is where things get tricky, and risky, for Milan. Will Mastour accept to play in the primavera again, when teams such as PSG, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, Barcelona, etc come knocking on the door? A similar case occurred with Paul Pogba. Considered one of Manchester United’s top prospects, the then 19 year-old Pogba got very little playing time under Sir Alex Ferguson. When his contract expired, he decided to leave for Juventus.
Pogba said this at the time during an interview with l’equipe:
“It was the feeling that I had with [Ferguson]. The coach had faith in me, but didn’t put me on. He said that I was too young. He said: ‘Your time will come’. It didn’t come.”
I am by no means suggesting Mastour will be the next Pogba. For every Pogba there are dozens more who never fulfill the hype. Milan should support Mastour and have a plan in place for his development, whether it is to continue playing in the primavera or perhaps being loaned out to another club on the condition he gets more playing time. He has considerable room for growth, both physically and mentally. It is far too early to give up on him, especially for such a paltry transfer fee of 5M euros.
Perhaps the best advice is from his former coach, Omar Danesi, who said this of Mastour in an interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport in May 2014 (but still applies today):
“It is impossible to take the ball from him. He has impressive speed. He is very young and has lots of room for improvement. For the talent he has he is definitely a player who can play at the San Siro. However, he is very young and should be allowed to grow with tranquility.”
What should Milan do? Give Mastour a chance to play, and then see in a year or two how he progresses. It would be premature at this stage to throw in the towel. He must be given an opportunity to grow and play some meaningful games with the senior team to really determine if he will be a future star or a bust.
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