The club legend turned assistant coach turned scout spoke with Omnisport recently about the possibility of bringing back Gabriel Paletta and Alessandro Matri who are on loan at Atalanta and Lazio respectively.
Tassotti, who is in charge of scouting Milan players who are on loan at other clubs, said that Milan would need greater squad depth to challenge for all three competitions, should they qualify for the Europa League, which could increase the possibility of a return for Paletta and Matri.
He was quoted as saying by Rossoneriblog: “You have to see what the needs of the team are. Paletta is on loan at Atalanta and could come in handy, as there are several players in defence whose contracts are running out. Also Matri, who is on loan at Lazio until June, could return to Milan in the summer”.
The Question of Squad Depth
Gabriel Paletta, who was loaned out to Atalanta in the summer after Mihajlovic took over and brought in Alessio Romagnoli, raised many a Rossoneri eyebrow. The former Liverpool Italo-Argentine centre-back was a late bloomer, and earned a national team call-up late in his career while playing for Parma. Having kept 4 clean sheets in the last ten matches, he has formed quite the partnership with Brazillian Rafael Toloi at the heart of the Atalanta defence.
Paletta was expected to form the starting lineup with Romagnoli for Milan before his agent pushed for a loan move, which surprised a lot of Milan fans. Milan could use a reliable partner for Romagnoli, since the Brazillian Alex who is Mihajlovic’s first choice centre-back is not getting any younger and is also injury prone. This coupled with the ever-so-inconsistent Zapata and Mexes, could lead to Milan welcoming Paletta back with open arms.
Matri on the other hand, is no fan favourite at the San Siro. Having cost the Rossoneri a sum of 12 million euros in the summer of 2013, Matri has been superbly underwhelming in the Rossoneri shirt. He has played for five clubs in the last three years, having scored a disappointing tally of 16 goals in Serie A, after miserably failing to replicate his form of 2013 when he spearheaded Juventus to the title with 18 goals.