The fee was agreed, personal terms were close, and Milan’s hierarchy were ready to present the French striker as the muscular, penalty-box presence Massimiliano Allegri’s side have been crying out for.

Then the medical intervened. Concerns flagged late on collapsed the move, the clock ran out, and Milan were left staring at a problem they had hoped to solve rather than extend.

The immediate frustration is obvious. But the bigger question is whether Milan will come to regret not just missing out on Mateta, but failing to leave themselves enough time to pivot.

Elite clubs don’t just have a Plan A in the final hours of a window. They have Plan B, C and sometimes D, especially when the squad weakness is as glaring as Milan’s lack of a reliable No.9.

Instead, Milan walked away from deadline day empty-handed, with no reinforcement to address their most persistent issue. In a title race where margins are already thin, that kind of miscalculation can be costly.

The context makes it more uncomfortable. Milan sit five points behind Inter in the Serie A title race. They remain firmly in contention, but the gap reflects a difference in attacking efficiency as much as anything else.

Inter have multiple forwards contributing goals. Milan, by contrast, continue to lean heavily on wide players and attacking midfielders to provide end product.

• Read next I Who are the five best Serie A signings of the January transfer window?

Their top scorers underline the imbalance. Christian Pulisic leads the team with eight league goals, followed by Rafael Leao on seven. Both are elite attackers in their own right, but neither is an orthodox centre-forward designed to live in the six-yard box and convert half-chances. When your most reliable scorers are wide players, it often points to a structural flaw rather than a temporary blip.

The numbers from Milan’s actual strikers make even less comforting reading. Christopher Nkunku has five Serie A goals, a return that is respectable but hardly title-defining. Niclas Fullkrug has managed just one league goal, struggling to adapt to the tempo and spacing of Milan’s attack.

Most worrying of all is Santiago Gimenez, signed from Feyenoord last summer for €32 million as a long-term solution. After nine Serie A appearances, he is still waiting for his first league goal in red and black. That kind of drought doesn’t just hurt the player’s confidence; it warps the entire attacking structure around him.

(C)Getty images

This is where Mateta would have fitted so neatly. Not glamorous, not subtle, but effective. A striker who thrives on chaos, second balls and physical duels. Exactly the profile Milan currently lack. Instead, they now face the business end of the season, hoping their existing forwards suddenly discover consistency that has been missing for months.

It might still work. Leao could explode into one of his streaks. Pulisic might continue to carry the scoring load. Nkunku could find rhythm. But title races are rarely won on hope. With Inter already holding a five-point advantage, Milan’s margin for error is shrinking fast.

If they fall short in May, the failed Mateta deal may not be the only reason. But it will be one of the most obvious. Not because Milan missed out on one striker, but because they didn’t prepare properly for the possibility that they might.

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