Aspirin for Amorim: Why Moreira’s versatility can solve multiple headaches for Milan

It feels a bit reductive to pin Diego Moreira down to one department, let alone one role. This is due to the exceptional versatility that he has demonstrated despite being still early in his career.

An important starting point is that Moreira is left-footed and has been deployed more on the left throughout his career as a result. However, he has been used as a weapon inverting from the right a lot too, which gives Ruben Amorim another exciting possibility.

We can however break things down a bit, going from his spells at Strasbourg, Chelsea and Lyon back to his emergence in Benfica’s second team back in 2020-21 .

The spot that Moreira has frequented most is actually as a left winger, more specifically on the left in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 formation. In his 45 games there, the numbers are impressive: eight goals and 11 assists.

After that it is right wing, with seven goals and seven assists in 34 games across various clubs. Then it is left midfield (essentially wing-back) where the numbers read 25 games, one goal, seven assists.

The only other position which Moreira has played more than 10 appearances in is left-back: 13 games, one goal, two assists.

Narrowing things down a bit to just his time at Strasbourg – where things had begun to really take off – the findings are similarly intriguing given he played in six different roles across his 76 games.

Predominantly the Liege-born wide man was used as a left wing-back in Alsace (25 matches, one goal, seven assists) but was more effective as a right winger (19 games, four goals, five assists).

Left-back (13 games, one goal, two assists), left wing (six games, one goal, one assist), right wing-back (five goals, one assist) and attacking midfield (two games, no goal contributions) complete the picture.

Moreira’s breakthrough at Strasbourg in 2024-25 was thanks to an insight from Liam Rosenior, then coach of the French club. The coach realised that Diego not only possessed good technique, but was also lethal going forward, often skipping past opponents with his quick and powerful stride.

So, Rosenior had him playing both as a wing-back in a 3-4-2-1 (the same system Ruben Amorim will use) and as a full-back in a 4-2-3-1. Moreira became unstoppable with his overlaps, underlaps and lung-busting runs.

When Rosenior left France to coach Chelsea, things changed. Gary O’Neil took over at Strasbourg, moving Moreira back to the attacking midfield trio in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Not on the left, however, as he had in Benfica’s youth teams, but on the right.

Moreira thus refined his game once again, learning to cut inside more often to exploit his stronger left foot. This was a useful training ground for him to now arrive at Amorim’s Milan with superior tactical knowledge.

Horses for courses