Giroud, David, Colombo, Camarda – the planned evolution of Milan’s attack

AC Milan’s attacking department will need freshening up next summer as there is a continued reliance on Olivier Giroud, and the management already have some ideas on how it might look.

According to this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), Milan know that Giroud cannot be asked to score endlessly at the age of 37, despite the fact he continues to contribute on the biggest stages.

The mission is to find an heir or heirs worthy of succeeding him and one has already been identified in Jonathan David, while the second generation is represented by Lorenzo Colombo and the third by Francesco Camarda.

Before handing over the baton, Giroud will sign a one-year renewal until the summer of 2025 and it will foresee the reduction of his €3.5m net salary. He will remain a leader of the dressing room, and will be able to impart all of his experience.

Then, the hope is that David will join him. Milan tried to sign the Lille striker at the end of last August and will continue to monitor the situation in January because his deal expires in June 2025 and that lowers his asking price from €60m to €40m.

Next summer – more likely than in the winter – Milan will make a second attempt, which will be even more forceful than the first. The Canadian has only scored twice in the league this season, but Geoffrey Moncada and co. believe in him.

Then, Lorenzo Colombo could become part of the fold too. Milan will have him back next season, at the end of his loan spell with Monza. He scored a decisive brace against Verona at the weekend and the feeling is that he would be an upgrade on Luka Jovic, with ample room for growth given his age (21).

To complete the evolution would be Francesco Camarda, who is warming up with the Primavera at the moment and is just 15 years of age. The last time he was talked about was for an overhead kick against PSG in the Youth League on Tuesday which attracted the spotlight.

Camarda is spoken of as a generational talent, observed with interest by all the top teas around Europe, but Milan can renew his deal until 2027 next March when he turns 16.