Last season, Davide Calabria was more vulnerable to criticisms about his position, and the feeling at AC Milan is that some healthy competition would be welcomed. With this in mind, the Rossoneri are making attempts to sign Emerson Royal, and the Brazilian is more than open to the move.
It is difficult to fairly evaluate a lot of last season’s squad, because we could sit here and slate every player, after all, the season was a failure. However, that failure can be directed in several areas, from recruitment to a lack of luck, to a lack of ideas.
Now, under Paulo Fonseca’s reigns, we can begin to fairly evaluate the squad once again. New ideas are to be implemented, the recruitment may be slightly different and what was considered unluckiness last season with injuries can be altered with investment into the squad’s depth.
Calabria’s deputy last season was Alessandro Florenzi – an ageing player, who can do a job but is not a player that can be relied upon at the elite level any more, and this is why recruitment into the position is needed, even if it is only for the player to be a backup, but we can imagine Emerson will challenge the captain for his starting role.
Emerson spoke to EPTV about the situation with Milan, expressing some frustrations about his current position and what the Rossoneri means to Brazilian footballers, and his words have been relayed by Football Italia.
“I’ve always made it clear. I’m very competitive and it bothers me a lot to be left on the bench. I was upset and I told the coach about it.
“I’ve always been very professional, and put the most intensity into training, but this situation doesn’t work for me. I don’t know what my future will be. I am not a player who sits on the bench.
“I want to play, and if it’s not here, I understand that, but I want to go somewhere I can play. I want to play for the Brazil team and that is unlikely if I don’t play at club level, so I have to look for new places.”
The Milan interest…
“It is very special, knowing that teams of this magnitude want me. Milan is a real reference point for us Brazilians. I don’t know what the future holds. I just hope I can get back to playing and getting into the national team.”