Alexis Saelemaekers seemed destined to remain at AC Milan as of a few days ago, but now things have changed and he could well be on his way to Roma.
Calciomercato.com writes how Saelemaekers is an example of how illusory August football can be. In the wake of a brilliant second half of the season with Bologna, the winger was a protagonist in Milan’s summer friendlies and drew praise from Paulo Fonseca, yet now he has his suitcase ready.
“Alexis? He is a player I love a lot. I like the quality. I think he is a kind of player every coach loves to have, because he can play in different positions. He is more confident, I think he is a player I would love to keep in the team,” Fonseca said after the Manchester City win.
A strong feeling was immediately established with Fonseca, so much so that he was deployed in the first game of the season as left back in place of Theo Hernández who was not close to 100% condition yet. Against Parma, however, Saelemaekers remained on the bench as the Rossoneri lost to Parma.
Milan began to sell their surplus players with Yacine Adli heading for Fiorentina and Tommaso Pobega to Bologna. Saelemaekers could follow them out of the door, despite Fonseca’s esteem, because the management seem convinced by the idea of using him to sign Tammy Abraham.
In Fonseca’s ideas, players must not be static, either in their positions on the field or in their availability to play other roles. This is why someone like Saelemaekers is always very useful to the Portuguese coach.
He is a wildcard who can be valuable in a long and busy season like the current one. For Milan, keeping the Belgian would certainly not be a problem, but it is his versatility and sense of sacrifice that seems to have attracted Roma and the Rossoneri’s need for a back-up striker is just too great.