Mattia Liberali has been very impressive in preseason so far and at 17 years of age, AC Milan know that they must handle him in the best way.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, the video of Liberali dancing with the ball in front of Dani Ceballos and Brahim Diaz has appeared on the social media feeds of many Milan fans in the last 12 hours, and now everyone is beginning to take note.
What does the immediate future hold for him? Paulo Fonseca will decide, and in his post-match press conference he said: “Liberali plays with courage but we have to think about it, understand what is best for him, whether to go and play where he can have more space or stay here, stay with us for a while and have the opportunity to play for Milan Futuro.”
He still has a couple of weeks to make a call, but the paper state that Liberali will almost certainly stay at Milan. At the very least, he will train with the first team and will be an important player in the Under 23s.
If Fonseca then continues on the path of using a more technical attacking midfielder – therefore with Christian Pulisic and not Ruben Loftus-Cheek as the No.10 – Mattia could become the American’s deputy and play more than a few games.
Liberali is not afraid to try things. Using his quick feet and also his quick mind, he always wants to create something either with his dribbling or his shooting, to entertain rather than to think too tactically.
In Chicago, against Real Madrid, he saw the space open after a turnover by Brahim Diaz and attacked it, accelerating and providing a perfect pass for Chukwueze. That was a glimpse of everything that the teenager could provide.
The Rossoneri risked losing him a year ago, when he had not yet signed a contract and Benfica were pushing. Now a very bright future awaits with his boyhood club and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will keep a close eye on him, perhaps even against Barcelona who were linked yesterday.