AC Milan landed a marquee signing on July 2nd, bringing aboard Sevilla striker Carlos Bacca for a transfer fee of £21 million. Provided that his medical exams go off without a hitch, the 28-year-old Bacca will don the AC Milan home jersey 2015 2016 for the forthcoming season. The hope at San Siro is undoubtedly that Bacca will bring some extra offensive fire to Milan. So as AC Milan sign Carlos Bacca, what are his credentials, and can he help boost the squad back to the top of the Serie A table?

Shortcomings in Milan

AC Milan were not necessarily poor offensively during the 2014 2015 Serie A season. On the contrary, the football club knocked down 56 goals in their 38-game campaign, and forward Jeremy Menez was the fifth most prolific scorer in the league, with 16 goals to his name. Even Juventus, who bested the next-best team in Serie A (AS Roma) by 17 points, only scored 72 goals all season. Milan's biggest problem at this point is poor defense: the squad's "goals against" tally for the 2014 2015 campaign was 50-the second highest total of any team in the top 10.

Still, even if the offensive line isn't the source of Milan's most pressing shortcomings, Bacca will still make a nice addition to the football club. The Colombian striker scored 28 goals for Sevilla last season alone, including 20 in regular season La Liga play.

A Potential Superstar

Even with La Liga as the location of the two biggest scorers in the entire game of soccer (Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi), Bacca still ended the 2014 2015 season as the fifth most prolific scorer in the league. (Barcelona's Neymar and Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann tied at third, with 22 goals apiece.)

Those statistics don't even show Bacca's full quotient as a potential superstar. Carlos also played a huge role in winning Sevilla two back-to-back titles in the UEFA Europa League. In 2013 2014, he only scored four goals in the tournament, but delivered the first of four on-target penalty kick in Sevilla's tournament-winning shootout against Benfica.

In the 2014 2015 Europa League, Bacca played 765 minutes and scored seven goals. He was outscored at the event by both Alan (from Red Bull Salzburg) and Romelo Lukaku (from Everton), but his goals arguably counted for more. In the UEL final, against Dinipro Dnipropetrovsk, Carlos scored the second and third of Sevilla's goals, leading his soccer club to a 3-2 victory.

What Bacca Means for AC Milan

Needless to say, it's not hard to see why a struggling AC Milan wanted to bring Bacca to Italy. While he's pushing 30, Carlos could still make quite a splash in the AC Milan jersey over the next few years-and potentially help the team push back into the Serie A top five.

AC Milan haven't had an offensive player who could knock down 20 or more goals a season since Zlatan
Ibrahimovic departed for Paris Saint Germain after the 2011 2012 season. Note coincidentally, 2011 2012 was also the last time the Red and Blacks were Serie A runners-up, and the year before was the last time they won the Italian football title. Ibrahimovic's goal tally the last time AC Milan won the Serie A title? 21.

Of course, while Bacca can help boost AC Milan's offensive numbers, the soccer club will still need better defense if they are going to get anywhere near another national title. The good news is that the Red and Blacks are shoring up that part of their squad this summer, with most of the club's new signings as either goalkeepers or midfielders. Get a few new defenders in there as well (Milan has only signed Avellino's Rodrigo Ely in that role so far this summer), and Bacca might be able to help mold the football team into champions.

What do you think of Carlos Bacca donning the AC Milan football jersey next season? Do you think it's a good signing, or do you think the Red and Blacks paid to high a transfer fee for an aging player? Let us know on social media! You can connect with Soccer Box on Facebook, Pinterest, Google +, or other popular social platforms.