It was another season of turgid transition for the once great AC Milan as they failed to live up to expectations again. Having fired two club legends in Clarence Seedorf and Pippo Inzaghi, a former Inter player was brought in as head coach. Siniša Mihajlović had forged a fine reputation as Sampdoria manager but this was an entirely different challenge at a truly elite club. The outlook seemed positive in the summer as the club was active in the transfer market. Carlos Bacca was the big summer signing up front and he actually proved to be something of a hit with 18 league goals to end the season. It was elsewhere that things fell apart as Luiz Adriano failed to make the same mark as Bacca in attack and Mario Balotelli's return was always going to end in inevitable failure. The other summer signings were less than inspiring. Juraj Kucka is a solid and hard working player but would he have ever got into a Milan team of the past? Alessio Romagnoli and Andrea Bertolacci may still have bright futures but they struggled to establish themselves immediately. The rest of the squad is just painfully average for a club of this size. Mihajlović was infamously caught saying that he could only do so much with such a poor squad and it showed in Milan's results over his tenure. There was simply no consistency at any point and the Serb's sacking seemed slightly overdue with just six weeks of the season left. Another former player was brought in to replace him as Cristian Brocchi took the helm for the last few games but there is surely not a soul who thinks he will be in charge at the start of next season. Just two wins from the last six league matches and some truly terrible performances was not the best audition for the job. Milan ended up finishing behind minnows Sassuolo in the table and they then missed out on European qualification when losing to Juventus after extra-time in the Coppa Italia final despite the team's best performance under Brocchi. Whoever comes in to take charge in the summer has a huge job on his hands but there is still something to work with. Giacomo Bonaventura had another fine season in midfield whilst M'Baye Niang remains a prodigious young talent. Perhaps the breakout star of the season in the whole of Italy was teenage goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who has already established himself as first choice at the Rossoneri and most believe he is the heir apparent to Gigi Buffon for the national team. Nevertheless, Milan need to invest more wisely this summer if they are to awaken from their slumber.
