Challenging ? Do you think Gabriel Jesus would have been a better player than Divock Origi ? Zlatan Ibrahimovic ? Yes Zlatan is injured but I believe he would continue a season with AC Milan.
From time, Gabriel's agent has always has aired some talks about he's client playing for a club in the premier league. Also been close to Arteta must have made the deal easy.
I believe Ac Milan will make with into the Champions League and play very well. Ibrahimovic may likely sign an extension once he returns from rehabilitation center.
Personally yes I think that Gabriel Jesus would have been a better choice than Origi. In my opinion, he has a much bigger talent than Origi now. We can even understand it when we compare their stats in their careers so far. Both of them are centre-forwards but Gabriel Jesus has been much more productive than Origi. But at this point there is another fact that Milan can buy Origi for free. This can change something for them for sure. I would like to see Origi performing much better at Milan. Don't get me wrong I don't underestimate him. I just state my opinion about the comparison between Gabriel Jesus and him.
I think Milan did the right thing avoiding the deal to bring Gabriel Jesus. They have good attacking options and needed to fill a simple void which Origi fits perfectly. Origi is a reliable back up compared to Jesus and relatively cheaper too. Why spend 50m on Gabriel Jesus when you can get Origi for free (they have similar stats by the way, with origi playing less games too)
I wouldn't say that they have similar stats actually. I checked the stats of both players so far and saw this:
Gabriel Jesus - 288 matches, 116 goals, 52 assists
Divock Origi - 302 matches, 65 goals, 27 assists
Gabriel Jesus performed better last season too.