Jan-Carlo Simić: Scouting Report by Mateusz Belza
Name: Jan-Carlo Simić
Age: 18 years old (2005-05-02)
Height: 1,86 cm
Main Position: Centre-back
Other Position: Right-back
Club: AC Milan
Nationality: Serbia and Germany
Preferred foot: Right Foot
Market Value: –
Player comparison: Sergio Ramos
Key Strengths:
Physicality
Aggression
Tackling ability
Improvements:
Speed over long distance
Background:
Jan-Carlo Simić was born in Nürtingen in Germany to a Serbian mother and a Bosnian father. He started his football youth career at SV Hegnach before moving to Stuttgarter Kickers in 2016, in 2018 he joined VfB Stuttgart youth teams, where he played for the U16, U17 and U19. In 2022 joined AC Milan U19 Primavera team for a reported fee of 1 million £.
Career Summary:
On a club level, Simić previously represented German clubs SV Hegnach, Stuttgarter Kickers, and VfB Stuttgart at the youth level before joining AC Milan’s U19 Primavera Team. He has played 35 matches for AC Milan’s U19 in Campionato Primavera-1 and 13 matches in the UEFA Youth League. He made his senior debut for AC Milan on December 16, 2022, in a friendly match against Liverpool, coming on as a substitute in the 73rd minute. During the preseason of the 2023/2024 season, he earned his first starting position in the lineup in a friendly match against Real Madrid and also came on as a substitute in the friendly against Juventus four days later. As of today, Jan-Carlo has not yet made his competitive debut for AC Milan, but has recently been part of the senior squad, and has been on the bench for three Serie A matches this season.
On the international stage, Simić has chosen to represent Serbia at the youth level. He was part of the squad and played in the 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. Currently, he plays for Serbia’s U19 team.
Play style:
Simić is like a brick in the back; he is a typical stopper as a center-back. He possesses great strength and physicality for his age, often outmuscling the majority of players he faces in ground duels. He demonstrates bravery by throwing himself into challenges, doing everything he can to win the ball back without showing any fear. A highly valuable trait that Simić possesses is his proficiency with both feet. Despite not being the fastest, he still has good acceleration, although not the best recovery speed over long distances. On the pitch, he exhibits great leadership as he directs and organizes his teammates through communication and hand gestures.
Play style (Defensively):
Defensively, with his great strength, Simić is very good in physical ground duels and is aggressive in his tackles in a good way. He has a tendency to press his opponents from behind and overpower them with sheer strength. He does this very well and often emerges victorious in duels, which also shows great understanding of reading the game. However, at times, he could be more decisive and does not need to press his opponents, as there is a considerable amount of space created behind him when he gets out of position. However, even on the rare occasions when he loses a duel, he does everything in his power to regain possession of the ball. On counter-attacks, Simić always scans his surroundings to see which spaces he opponent will run into so that he knows which area he needs to cover.
Simić scans the Roma player so that he knows where to position himself in the penalty area to intercept a potential pass that may be directed to the opponent in the red circle if the ball carrier in Roma manages to get past the Milan defender.
Simić exhibits correct body positioning here, prepared for both opponents marked in red. In this scenario, the player closest to Simić receives the ball first, managing to flick it further to the winger. However, due to his adept body positioning, he quickly catches up to the ball and successfully executes a pocket tackle, sending the ball out for a throw-in.
Here, Simić notices that the passes will be aimed at the forward in Lecce and immediately starts by going up on the back of his opponent. He forces his opponent to work facing the wrong way, and no dangerous situation is created from the scenario.
Play style (Offensively):
Offensively, Simić often ventures into the opposing penalty area during set-piece situations, leveraging his strength to fend off opponents and he also possesses an impressive dominance in the aerial battles, which proves to be a significant advantage for his team. On the ball he is really composed. He often delivers passes along the ground to his teammates, showing a tendency to favor short passes over long balls. When receiving the ball in tight situations, he brings the ball out in the right moments in the right spaces to create space and elude opponents applying pressure.
Here, Simić is pressured by the Lecce forward and executes a very nice first touch to escape the pressure, resulting in him finding himself in a large space (the circle) with several different passing options to his teammates.
Here, Simić waits for the forward to approach with his press. When the opponent is close enough, he accelerates past him and enters the area. Once inside, he then spots his central midfielder who has moved out to the left flank (not visible in the picture), where he delivers a good long pass to him.
Technical Abilities (0-10):
Defending Ability: [9]
Defending 1v1: [8]
Tackling: [8]
Clearance: [7]
Covering Shots: [9]
Attacking Ability: [5]
Left Footed Passing: [7]
Right Footed Passing: [8]
Short Passing: [8]
Long Passing: [6]
Running with the ball: [7]
Ball Control: [7]
Heading: [8]
Weak foot: [8]
First Touch: [7]
Physical Abilities (0-10):
Speed: [5]
Mobility: [7]
Strength: [10]
Work Rate: [9]
Agility: [7]
Endurance: [8]
Tactical Abilities (0-10):
Positioning: [8]
Reading the Game: [8]
Vision: [8]
Decision Making: [7]
Awareness: [9]
Covering Areas: [9]
Mentality & Character abilities (0-10):
Team Player: [9]
Effort to win the ball back: [9]
Leadership: [9]
Talkative: [9]
Competitive: [10]
Discipline: [7]
Concentration: [7]
Will to win: [9]
Showing initiative: [8]
Potential:
Simić performances demonstrate a remarkable combination of technical proficiency and tactical intelligence. The strong work ethic and adaptability showcased suggest that the player possesses significant untapped potential. With the right guidance and exposure to more competitive environments, there is a high likelihood of the player evolving into a key contributor at the highest level. The journey towards reaching full potential requires continued dedication and challenges, but the player’s current trajectory is indicative of a promising future in the world of football, and in the very near future, I believe he will have his first playing minutes in Serie A or Coppa Italia for AC Milan.