Ruben Loftus-Cheek has impressed in his first three games at AC Milan suggesting he might just find a new lease of life after he left Chelsea.
However, Loftus-Cheek would not be the first player that head coach Stefano Pioli has managed to get the best out of either, and La Gazzetta dello Sport highlights how the list is actually quite long.
The clear example is Rafael Leao, who arrived as a raw talent and has been sculpted – with work on his mentality too – to become one of the best wingers in the world. He now has the No.10 shirt, and his numbers at Milan read 165 games, 43 goals and 38 assists.
Another emblem of Pioli’s work is the history of Davide Calabria. He suffered a couple of down years after his initial emergence but Pioli put faith in the Primavera graduate. Today he is captain and has 219 appearances, with 8 goals and 17 assists.
Theo Hernandez landed in Milanello in the summer of 2019, initially as Ricardo Rodriguez’s deputy under Marco Giampaolo. With the arrival of Pioli he never left the field again, earning a France call-up too and becoming an elite full-back. In 169 games he has 25 goals and 28 assists.
One of the posters of the Milan project is Pierre Kalulu who came as a relative unknown from Lyon for a fee of around €1m and became a bedrock of the defence that helped win the Scudetto. In 102 games he has 3 goals and 3 assists.
Malick Thiaw arrived a year ago from Schalke 04 for around €7m. The German had to be patient but by the second half of the season he was starting in the Champions League round of 16 against Tottenham and playing for his country, with 26 to his name for his club.
Rade Krunic has played six or seven roles since joining from Empoli. He has become Mr. Reliable for Pioli and he has the most trust he has ever had playing at the base of the midfield. With the Rossoneri he is on 127 appearances, 3 goals and 6 assists.
Together with Krunic, Ismael Bennacer from Empoli in 2019. At Milan Bennacer was often a balancer, but last season he ended up in an attacking midfield role with convincing results. With the Rossoneri he has amassed 145 games so far, with 6 goals and 9 assists.
Sandro Tonali is no longer here now, but at Milan he had become a leader after a complicated adaptation period upon his arrival from Brescia. A so-so season came before a permanent move, and last season he was immovable in the starting XI 130 appearances, 7 goals and 13 assists.
Finally we come to Franck Kessie who – like Bennacer – also found use as an attacking midfielder. He arrived from Atalanta at 21 years old for €28m, gaining an increasingly central role with Pioli especially in the Scudetto season. In 2022 he left the club on a free transfer, with a total of 223 appearances, 37 goals and 16 assists.
B-but Pioli can’t use any young players and will only waste their talents on bench. Just look at JPH, Adli and CDK!
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The writer forget about Brahim Diaz and Tomori.
In short if you showed what he want in training and match he will play you.