It is not uncommon in football that players can struggle at some clubs and perform very well at their next team, but for AC Milan there is a list of cases that make for interesting reading.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) has a page titled ‘The regrets of the Diavolo’, focusing above all on the exploits of two attacking midfielders who were at the club last season but left.
It starts with a look at Brahim Diaz, whose goal was enough for Real Madrid to beat RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie. As a reminder, in the last edition of the Champions League last 16, his goal won the tie against Spurs.
Two nights ago, Brahim said: “I feel great in Madrid, but I was also fine at Milan. I experienced a fundamental moment there and I thank everyone for three magnificent years. I follow them and will always follow them, I talk more with Theo Hernandez than with my girlfriend.”
On the other hand, Charles De Ketelaere and Milan never seemed to get their hearts to connect after a season with 40 games but zero goals. He was warmly welcomed at the beginning, before going very cold in the second half of the season.
Instead, the Belgian seems love struck with Gian Piero Gasperini at Atalanta: 10 goals in his first season so far, the most recent against Genoa with an incredible left-footed strike from distance.
Away from the pressure of San Siro and closer to the opponent’s area, CDK has reconnected with his seasons as a top scorer at Club Brugge and that will no doubt leave the Rossoneri reflecting on why a €35m investment did not work.
The story with Franck Kessie and Hakan Calhanolgu ended even worse. The first went to Barcelona, the latter to Inter, without Milan receiving a transfer fee for two players who certainly had a value.
Kessie had been the Rossoneri’s protagonist in the year of the Scudetto and recently helped the Ivory Coast to victory in the African Cup of Nations. In Spain he won LaLiga and the Super Cup, meaning he got used to success. As well as the stellar salaries guaranteed in Arabia by Al-Ahli.
The salary was the basis of the break with Milan: in the summer of 2022, to extend the expiring agreement, he asked for a fee of €7m net per season which was equal to what Zlatan Ibrahimovic then received.
The management’s offer wasn’t much lower: €5.5m plus bonuses. Barça offered a bit more and it was enough for the Ivorian to say yes, thus ending his experience at Milan after half a decade.
Inter arrived in the summer of 2021 to bridge the gap between Calhanoglu’s request for a salary (€5m) and Milan’s offer (€3.5m) but then a year later the Rossoneri became champions without him.
Now, Inter being the leading candidates for the title with Calhanoglu as a driving force. Betraying one half of the city to accept the richer offer of the other was the cause of tension, controversy, teasing and banners.
What about a midfield three with Kessie, Calhanoglu and Lucas Paquetà? The latter was purchased by ex-director Leonardo for €38m and he saw some kind of Kakà-like ability in him, but it turned out to be an unfulfilled promise.
The result is that the Brazilian was sold to Lyon after a year and a half for just over half the purchase price, but today Paquetà is in the Premier League with West Ham with whom he won the most recent UEFA Conference League.
He played at the 2022 World Cup as a starter for his country and in the summer Manchester City would have paid €100m for him, but the midfielder was being investigated by theEnglish Federation for betting and gambling.
Paquetà has always denied the accusations and continues to be decisive in the Premier League (but still with West Ham), while Milan did not change and instead they have actually stuck to their guns.
There was a spending limit on wages that they did not want to exceed, even at the cost of losing the players for nothing.
