Milan, Kostic’s difficult start to the season at Sparta Rotterdam: will he change clubs in January? The situation

AC Milan’s 2007-born striker Kostic is struggling to establish himself at Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie

AC Milan moved early for Andrej Kostic, convinced of the potential of the Montenegrin striker born in 2007. Igli Tare, now a former member of the club, made the first move before Jovan Kirovski completed the deal with Partizan Belgrade months before the summer transfer window reopened: 3 million plus bonuses and a percentage of any future sale for the Serbian club. The youngster underwent a medical in Milan on 30 March just gone.

Initially, the Kostic deal looked like a way to get to Dusan Vlahovic because both players have the same agent, Darko Ristic. But AC Milan opted for Goncalo Ramos in the end, and the former Juventus player joined Besiktas.

Too much for Milan Futuro, still not enough for Amorim

Kostic had already reached double figures in the Serbian league and had an excellent goal tally for Montenegro's Under-21s. Serie D seemed too restrictive for him. AC Milan initially signed him to start with Milan Futuro. But after returning from the first team's tour of Australia, he trained with Milan's second team for only a few days.

After discussions and internal assessments involving both teams' coaching staffs, they reached an initial conclusion: Kostic could see his development stall in Serie D, but Amorim considered him too raw to play alongside Modric and his team-mates. He also risked remaining on the fringes, given that the Portuguese coach had already chosen Camarda as Ramos's understudy.

Straight loan to Sparta Rotterdam

On 19 August last year, AC Milan officially announced Kostic's move to Sparta Rotterdam. The deal took just three days from start to finish, a free loan with no option to buy: the Dutch club took on the 2007-born centre-forward's full wages, beating several Italian and German clubs that had approached AC Milan about a temporary transfer. The Eredivisie was chosen because it is considered an ideal league for developing young forwards.

(Almost) never plays

So far, Kostic's spell at Sparta Rotterdam has given the Dutch club's management little to celebrate. The Montenegrin forward has struggled to establish himself as Sparta have taken just 6 points from 8 matches.

Milan Zonneveld, a Sparta Rotterdam-owned forward born in 2003, has kept Andrej out of the side with 5 goals in 8 matches. With the Dutch side playing a 4-2-3-1, Kostic is currently Zonneveld's understudy.

At AC Milan, Kostic's playing time is causing concern: he has made just 4 Eredivisie appearances, totalling only 56 minutes, without a goal or an assist. If the former Partizan Belgrade player does not reverse the trend, he could cut short his loan in January to seek a move better suited to his situation.