AC Milan were forced to fend off over 20 loan requests for Jens Petter Hauge after securing his signing in the summer window, Geoffrey Moncada has revealed.
It seems every Milan fan at the moment has caught a case of Hauge-fever, as the Norwegian starlet continues to dazzle with every opportunity he gets.
His arrival at the club was a fairytale in itself, as he rocked up with Bodo/Glimt for the Europa League third qualifying round game and impressed Milan’s scouts – who had already been following – enough for them to make a move there and then.
Since arriving Hauge has racked up four goals including three in the Europa League and one in Serie A against Napoli, putting in a real strong claim that he could be the starting left winger moving forward.
Moncada spoke to Podcast Prolongation about how Milan’s player recruitment works, and in particular why Maldini is such an important part of it, but he also discussed the acquisition of Hauge.
“The final decision to take him came with the match between Milan and Bodo/Glimt. I have to thank the ‘data’ area, who told me about this player between May and June,” he said (via MilanNews).
“We were in full lockdown. We couldn’t travel. And I wanted to see this guy live. I need it, because I wanted to see his ability to accelerate, his pace changes, his explosiveness. Then, we resumed the season, we won games.
“My boys. they said to me many times ‘Geoffrey, look at Hauge…’. Then, at the end of the season, I asked my scouts to analyse the matches with videos. Everyone told me something positive about this player. I didn’t even get negative feedback.
“Love at first sight with Hauge, we make him progress, we don’t put pressure on him. It comes from Norway, no pressure. We have players who are more ready than him like Rebic, Leao, Calhanogu. He has to work and is already part of the team, he plays games. At least 20 teams called us immediately after signing the player asking for a loan.”
