Noah Okafor is ready to make his debut as a starter for AC Milan against Cagliari tomorrow night, and he is looking to end a goal drought.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recall that Okafor played for 15 minutes against Bologna, 24 minutes against Torino, 13 against Roma, 14 in the derby and 12 against Verona. His best game was at the Stadio Olimpico, where he positioned himself on the wing, earned a couple of fouls on the goal line and got Lukaku booked.
Okafor is fast and has the characteristics of a winger with the license to dribble and then cut inside or cross, but at Red Bull Salzburg he often played as a striker. Last year he played in tandem with Benjamin Sesko, before he joined RB Leipzig.
Okafor is not a classic No.9 and instead likes to drift, often to the left of the field. He is not one for holding the ball up nor is he physically dominanet as Giroud can be, so the team will have to adapt.
Milan had been following him since last year. They wrote down his name after seeing him dribble past Pierre Kalulu and nutmeg Mike Maignan in the Champions League group stage.
In Pioli’s ideas he can play as a left winger or as the deputy to Giroud, especially with Luka Jovic not at 100%. His best season dates back to two years ago when he scored 14 goals in all competitions but his last goal dates back to November 5 against Wolfsberger.
He was still playing in Salzburg and perhaps he was already dreaming of Milan. Now, he needs to end that drought as soon as possible, perhaps tomorrow.
He has shown plenty of skill and pace in his cameos. Pioli should feel comfortable enough handing him starts so Oli/Leao can rest.
The long ball tactics with Giroud are not very likeable to me. Hoping to see less of that with Okafor upfront. I love ground passing ,good dribbling and speed in attack.