When he arrived at the end of January last year, a majority of the fans didn’t even know who he was. Since then, Alexis Saelemaekers has become a fundamental player for Milan and Stefano Pioli.
As MilanNews highlight in their piece about the Belgian, he was bought from Anderlecht for a fee of just €7m. Quickly, he won over the fans and his teammates with an incredible work-rate, adding goals and great performances to that.
In 12 months, Saelemaekers has managed to almost triple its market value, now worth no less than €20m. In the last 15 games of last season, he registered one goal and one assist. This season, he has three goals and three assists in 20 games.
The winger has managed to combine quality and quantity ion the pitch, clearly very important for the attacking phase and also in the defensive one, always tracking back. Without him on the pitch, there is indeed a notable difference.
Saelemakers has played 28 matches in Serie A without ever losing. In the 9 missed matches, Milan have lost on four occasions (against Inter, Genoa, Juventus and Atalanta). This stat really reflects the technical and tactical importance of the Rossoneri No.56.
READ MORE: Calabria the only Milan player at risk of suspension but there is one concern