Samuel Chukwueze’s first season at AC Milan is drawing to a close, and it would be fair to say that it perhaps has not gone the way that either party planned.
Chukwueze became Milan’s seventh signing of the summer back in July as the club landed arguably their main summer target after what felt like weeks of negotiations, bringing him in from Villarreal on a long-term deal.
The right wing position had been problematic for some time now with both Junior Messias and Alexis Saelemaekers struggling to find consistency, but with Chukwueze there was finally the feeling that Stefano Pioli could call upon a genuine two-flanked attack.
Fast forward
Jumping ahead in the story, Milan will play the last official match of their season this Saturday. While waiting for kick-off in that game, you should check out how to get Euro 2024 tickets.
The Rossoneri will challenge Salernitana at San Siro at 20:45 CEST and will end a very strange season, in all likelihood the last with Pioli in command. Among the positive aspects there is the 2023 summer signings, who have statistically performed well.
The summer market brought quality players who improved the Rossoneri’s level and yet there are still those regarding whom judgement is postponed until next season, with a leap in quality and consistency expected.
Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek and Reijnders lead the way
The three top signings, despite some difficult periods also dictated by physical problems, were without a doubt Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tijjani Reijnders.
The American had without a shadow of a doubt the best season of his career. With one match still to play he amassed a haul of 15 goals and 9 assists. The only flaw that can be identified, within the team’s MVP season, is the lack of incisiveness in big matches.
A similar argument can be made for former Chelsea player Loftus-Cheek who has reached double figures in goals but has sometimes left a bit to be desired in terms of consistency and his play before the end product.
Then there is Reijnders. In terms of scoring, we didn’t expect too much from him even if he certainly has the qualities to improve next season (this year he got 4 goals and 4 assists), but the Dutchman quickly became a key part of Pioli’s plans and has started over 40 games.
Chukwueze leads the ‘others’
Chukwueze turned 25 yesterday and he leads the group of players mentioned above, who more is expected from after a year of adaptation. The Nigerian landed in Milan as the most expensive signing of the entire summer and on paper with his starting place guaranteed.
Then two things happened: Pulisic’s explosion, and a precarious physical condition. For the entire first part of the season – apart from the Champions League matches against Borussia and Newcastle – he was almost like a ghost.
Then in mid-March he scored his first league goal against Verona and all the things that seemed to block him slipped away. From that moment and until his injury against Cagliari he was constantly one of the best on the pitch, even on the bitter evenings of April.
Next year, which will start from the first day at Milanello, a similar if not better performance is expected from the first minute. We are also waiting to see the real Noah Okafor and Yunus Musah too, but we want the best for Chukwu because it is obvious he is capable.
