Tuttosport: Milan's French-influenced core flying thanks to Massara and Moncada's influence

AC Milan’s squad has taken on an increasingly French flavour over the past few transfer windows and Saturday’s derby win over Inter might be the culmination of it.

Today’s edition of Tuttosport (via PianetaMilan) has dedicated an interesting section to Stefano Pioli’s Milan, underlining how fans will have woken up on Sunday morning with a pleasant feeling and probably loving French a little more thanks to Mike Maignan’s saves and Olivier Giroud’s brace.

It was a big win against Nerazzurri, obtained in part thanks to the insights coming from the scouting department, led by Geoffrey Moncada and acted upon by sporting director Ricky Massara, both of whom have placed a heavy emphasis on signing players from the French Ligue 1 given how well they know it.

Thanks to Maignan and Giroud Milan got three points, but then their compatriots in Pierre Kalulu and Theo Hernández deserve praise for their fantastic performances. Ismaël Bennacer plays for the Algerian national team but was born in Provence, while Rafael Leão was signed from Lille.

Giroud has now scored 7 goals in 8 games as a starter, and the Rossoneri have won in all 8 of those games. He is now physically fine and he is in a good spot of form, while Maignan has confirmed that he is a phenomenal goalkeeper, Kalulu is growing, Theo has exploded and Bennacer is hopefully returning to what he was in 2019-20.

In short, the decision to trust Massara and Moncada with the keys to the Milan squad is beginning to bear fruit.