Milan, Tonali future captain: Rossoneri, fighter and talented

For almost thirty years Baresi and Maldini have crossed the Rossoneri’s history with the armband: records, successes and glory are not part of the career of the last AC Milan captains. For this reason the theme is proposed again: we need a recognizable leader, perhaps of proven faith, who is sure to stay for a long time. An identikit that matches that of Sandro Tonali.

Past

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The exception to the rule is represented by Massimo Ambrosini, the first to take up the legacy of the captains of primates. Then representing Milan had more duties than honors: Riccardo Montolivo was crowned directly by Silvio Berlusconi. The former president gathered the team in the fireplace room of Milanello and wanted the midfielder who had arrived months earlier from Fiorentina close to him: he publicly praised his qualities and then elected him captain of Milan. It was 2012 and a few years later, summer 2019, Montolivo left San Siro without even a greeting from the stadium. Throughout his last season, he didn’t play a single minute: a farewell in silence, without even a tribute. He was injured when in December 2016 Milan won the Italian Super Cup after beating Juventus in Doha: he was next to Abate who lifted the Cup. A year later the armband was removed from his arm to be delivered to Leonardo Bonucci, a single AC Milan season between 2017 and 2018. It was the Chinese property that imposed the most representative purchase of the summer as the leader of the new course: the story Bonucci’s rossonera, like that of the Chinese, was short and not very glorious. When Bonucci returned to Juve in the following summer, the legacy was taken up by Romagnoli: captain from 2018 to today. Ups and downs in the Rossoneri, no trophy but the Champions zone regained seven years later, Romagnoli is today a captain on the deadline. The contract with Milan will end in the summer and there are no signs of a renewal of promises: on the contrary, the clues speak of separation. If Kessie steals the show, with her millionaire requests and the recent whistles of the fans, Romagnoli is also among the next releases. A separation that appears almost consensual: the club would not want to lose him for free but already knows that it will build the defense on other columns and that the former Roma player (bought in 2015 for 25 million) could not guarantee the current rich salary. Two good reasons for the player to look elsewhere, even if never say never.

New leader

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In the absence of Romagnoli it was Calabria who represented Milan, at least during the season. A year ago, on many occasions, it was Gigio Donnarumma: it is known how it ended. It is time for Milan to have an enduring and possibly winning captain. A young man who represents the future and makes San Siro his home for many years. An AC Milan fan who can testify to his faith since he was a child. A talent who has chosen to dress the Rossoneri despite many other alternative requests: those of the big Italians, for example, from Inter to Juventus. And that to stay in Milan he himself proposed to cut his salary, to facilitate the company’s moves. This is the profile of Sandro Tonali, contracted until 2026, who was already in the photos from when he was a kid. He had many requests after the exploit in Brescia but he wanted to play in the team he has always been a fan of and before asking for the 8 he asked the former Gattuso for permission. Last summer, after the season on loan, he did everything to ensure that Milan could buy him outright. Every time the stadium announces his presence on the pitch he is a roar, when he approaches the corner kick flag the curve pays homage to him. In the last round there were the first choirs all for him. For the fans, Romagnoli’s successor has already been written. However, the team and Pioli will decide. This year’s choice (Calabria as first deputy) was dictated by the logic of seniority: the full-back grew up in the club’s youth sector. So he was preferred by the coach to Kjaer, a candidate at the start of the season, but also to Ibrahimovic, the undisputed leader of the group. For years of Rossoneri militancy Tonali is not in the lead, but for all other reasons he is the perfect future captain: he is in the heart of Milan, in every sense. No AC Milan player has played more games as a starter this season than he, 26, like Theo Hernandez. It is the Milan midfielder who builds the most: 1240 seasonal passes, none better than him. And that’s what more than others, he fights: 167 balls recovered on the opponents, first in the standings also in this.