Alessio Romagnoli’s injury during the first half of AC Milan’s cup semi-final first leg against Inter was far from ideal, but Pierre Kalulu once again stepped up to the plate.
La Gazzetta dello Sport takes a look at the Frenchman’s time with Milan so far and recalls how it was more than a year ago that Stefano Pioli decided to instil trust in him. Back in December 2021 during Milan-Parma, Gabbia got hurt after five minutes and Pioli told Kalulu he was going on. Since then, he hasn’t really looked back.
He arrived at Milanello on a free transfer (albeit with a compensation fee less than €1m) and joined as more of a natural full-back, but he has been transformed into a centre-back by necessity.
“Playing in the middle or right is not a problem, I go where I am needed,” Kalulu has said in the past, and against Napoli in Sunday’s huge match, he will be tasked with keeping Osimhen and co. at bay if Romagnoli does not recover in time.
He played for 64 minutes alongside Fikayo Tomori last night in the derby and it was the first time they played together as a centre-back pairing. They have played 14 games together in the same back four though with the Frenchman as a right-back, and they have only two defeats in that stretch against Manchester United and Liverpool in Europe, with eight wins and five draws.
Last year Kalulu played 18 games for Milan, and in the current campaign he is already at 25. he He also managed to establish himself in the French U21 national team with seven appearances and two goals.
His contract expires in 2025, and the management are working on an extension until 2026 with a pay rise as a reward, but there is no urgency from any party.
