Albertini names the three players he believes are the ‘future’ of Milan

By Oliver Fisher -

Former AC Milan midfielder Demetrio Albertini believes that there are three players that the club should look to build around heading into the future.

Albertini knows what it takes to win, as he was a product Milan’s youth system who went on to spend 14 highly successful years with the club after debuting in Serie A as a 17-year-old under Arrigo Sacchi in 1989.

It was under Fabio Capello that he finally established himself as a starter two years after his debut, and he would go on to make almost 293 Serie A appearances for the Rossoneri and 406 total career appearances for Milan, scoring 28 goals.

He was part of a side that won three successive Serie A titles in 1992, 1993 and 1994, as well as the titles in 1996 and 1999, and the Diavolo also reached three consecutive finals between 1993 and 1995, lifting the trophy in 1994.

During an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Albertini spoke about the renewal of Rafael Leao in particular and about how he should form part of the future core of the team moving forward, along with two other players.

“For Leao, a fundamental rule applies on the market: you can make a mistake in buying, but you cannot make a mistake in selling. Milan have known how to do it,” he said (via MilanNews).

“They replaced Donnarumma, a world-class number one, with Maignan who proved to be extraordinary, but right now it’s hard to find a footballer around with Leao’s ability. He, Tonali and De Ketelaere are the future of the team.”

Albertini also spoke about Milan’s Champions League campaign and in particular their chances of getting into the round of 16.

“I would be surprised if they don’t get through. Milan can and must qualify, I expect them to start again from a victory in Zagreb. Even if they didn’t begin with the aim to win the Champions League, they need to train themselves to play games in which you can’t go wrong. And those games only exist in the Champions League: in this sense it is a completely different tournament from the league.”

Tags AC Milan Demetrio Albertini

8 Comments

  1. Cornerstones of the future (and present) and they need to be kept:
    Leao, Theo, Tonali, Maignan, Kalulu, CDK.
    The rest can stay or go, wouldn’t lose any sleep if they leave. Better player can be brought to replace them for reasonable fees

      1. I have Kalulu as my RB.
        Even though he has been awesome at CB, IMO he can be world class at right back.
        Love Davide though, he can be a back up but if Milan wants to compete with the best in UCL, it won’t happen with Calabria as a starter at RB

  2. Calabria is unjustly underrated. He is not skillful but he gives milan that winning spirit that supercedes any skill that any player can possess.

  3. For me, the core to keep is Mike, Theo, Tomori, Kalulu, Tonali, Leao.

    Maybe Calabria

    Would be wiling to sell Leao only to stop him going on a free and he would bring in $$$

    BTW, Theo is arguably the best LB in the world now alongside Cancello and maybe Davies – he’s right up there.

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