Rade Krunic has the word ‘trust’ tattooed on one of his fingers, which is very fitting given the immense amount of trust Stefano Pioli has towards him.
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La Gazzetta dello Sport writes how Krunic doesn’t play cunning like Bennacer, doesn’t outrun opponents like Leao, doesn’t score like Giroud, but his qualities help ensure that those protagonists have a chance to shine, wherever he is asked to play.
If Milan are in the semi-finals of the Champions League they also owe something to Krunic. The midfielder came from Foca, a village of 20,000 inhabitants destroyed during the war and then rebuilt.
Now, Krunic is the ‘shadow man who gives light to Milan’. The overall heat map of his two years with the Rossoneri show red dots scattered everywhere, from attack to defence, right wing to left wing.
Since joining, the Bosnian has played as a deep-lying midfielder, a box-to-box midfielder, playmaker, second striker, winger and full-back. Krunic is Pioli’s entrusted warrior, and he knows that he will get a good shift from the former Empoli no matter where he plays.
Krunic has had his own journey in Italy too. He was signed by Verona in 2014 and sent on loan to Donji Srem, in the Serbian first division. Then he was signed by Empoli who needed to replace Zielinski with a versatile, quality player.
In 2019 Milan came along and the rest is history. This year he has totalled 25 appearances and has scored one goal, once again maintaining the trust of Pioli.
