Will Bacca Send Milan Back To Europe?
After failed attempts to lure Geoffrey
Kondogbia and Jackson Martinez to Milan, there was a strayed sense of
disappointment among the fans. But with the Rossoneri having finally been able
to secure the services of Colombia striker Carlos Bacca, there is an occasion
to smile.
With only the official statement from Milan
missing, the €30 million transfer is considered a done deal after Bacca himself
admitted that an agreement had been reached.
“It needs to be confirmed, but what my person
of confidence said is true: we've reached an agreement with Milan, which is the
club with 100 percent of the possibility [of signing me],” he told Colombian
media.
The deal comes six weeks after the
28-year-old lead Sevilla to their historical fourth Europa League triumph. It
was his exploits in the final against Dnipro, which saw the Spaniards, run out
3-2 winners in Warsaw.
Bacca scored on either side of half-time to
instill a handsome amount of joy among Los Rojiblancos fans, as he raised his
hands and pointed his fingers towards the sky in celebration. It wasn’t too
long ago, that a Brazilian uncharacteristically refused to do the same
celebration against Sevilla in the 2007 European Super Cup, instead pointing to Antonio Puerta's name written across his lower back.
“I want to dedicate this to God and my family
in Colombia. This is something unique. I want to enjoy it. I was pleased to
help the side with two goals,” he told UEFA.com.
It almost seems surreal that Bacca could once
be found leaving the training fields of Barranquilla FC, and heading straight
to a bus depot where he would act a bus driver’s assistant.
“At 20 I was living in my village, Puerto
Colombia, working as a bus driver’s assistant. Life was far from easy. Next I
had to work as a ticket collector on the buses because I come from a poor
family and had to earn money to help them out,” Bacca was quoted as saying.
“The doors of football had been closed to me
for some time and at my age, it wasn’t something I could count on anymore. But
that year I trialled for Junior de Barranquilla and, thank God, they took me.”
Eight years later, his success has afforded
him the opportunity to bless his family with luxuries, while his arrival at
Milan will hopefully see the Diavoli handed the luxury of playing in Europe
once again.
Bacca enjoyed a good run in front of goal
last season... Finding the back of the net on 20 occasions in the League and
supplying six assists to his colleagues, the Rossoneri have certainly secured
the services of a hot commodity.
His fast pace creative play, along with his ability to move around the final third fluidly, will certainly add further depth to a Milan attack which will feature the likes of Stephan El Shaarawy, Jeremy Menez and Keisuke Honda.
According to WhoScored, Bacca has an overall
rating of 7, while he averages just short of two shots per game. Despite having
notched up an impressive amount of assists, Bacca’s only real flaw comes in his
passing game.
With a passing accuracy of just 67.5%, there
is room for improvement, but he does tend to manage an average of 0.8 key
passes in the match – only six other Sevilla players bettered that this past
season.
With Menez and El Shaarawy more equipped to
place the perfect ball and feed it around the box with more accuracy, goals are
expected to come more easily for the Rossoneri next term.
Why he chose to play for Milan ahead of a
team like Sevilla and Liverpool, who have UEFA Champions League football and
Europa League football next season respectively, is still unknown… But the fact
that he opted to help revive the sleeping giants brings fresh air to a stuffy
Milanello and a sense of hope to the club.
Back in the day, when Ricky Kaka used to
light up the San Siro with his goals, Milan fans became well-accustomed to his
raised hand, finger-pointing celebration to the sky so much so, it almost
became a symbol of success.
Since then, there is yet to be another South
American player who has given Milan as much joy in his creative play as Ricky
did for the club. And while Bacca’s sole similarity to the Brazilian may be his
style of celebration for now, many are hoping the Colombian will help Milan
feel the same joy and success Kaka gave the 2007 Champions League winners when
he pulled on the red and black shirt.
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