From Kalulu to Chukwueze – the players who could benefit from Lopetegui’s arrival

La Gazzetta dello Sport have been strongly pushing the idea that Julen Lopetegui will arrive as the new head coach of AC Milan, and they believe that two forwards would benefit from his hiring.

The paper (seen below) cites the examples of Casemiro, who Lopetegui had on loan at Porto and returned to Real Madrid ready to become a pillar of the team, as well as Isco, Diego Carlos and Ever Banega at Sevilla.

The list of players that the Basque coach has developed and revitalised is long and can grow even further if he lands at Milan. Both improvement of players in the current squad and additions from the mercato will be needed to close the gap with Inter.

The former Spain coach and the Rossoneri management are already tuned in to the same starting idea: the current squad is of an excellent level, with the right interventions it could become a title winner.

In the meantime, Lopetegui is studying and he seems to be of the belief that there is at least one name in each department that can help take off.

Samu Chukwueze, for example, looks to the future with confidence. His first season as a Milan player traveled at two speeds: slowly, very slowly from summer to spring, then accelerated. It wasn’t enough to change Pioli’s mind: despite him being one of the fittest players, Chukwu almost always starts from the bench.