Although he has yet to cement his place in the starting lineup, new signing Diego Moreirá, whom Milan acquired for a significant fee this summer, has already delivered explosive results, leading the team's scoring chart with 3 goals. Marco Guidi, journalist at La Gazzetta dello Sport, analyzed the Belgian prospect's performance in his article.

Below is Marco Guidi's article:

Moreirá is making an impression with remarkable speed. In just 66 minutes of Serie A action, all of which came as a substitute, he has already scored 3 goals, highlighting the need for the team to deploy the winger acquired this summer from Strasbourg more decisively. The happiest person about this 50-million-euro transfer (plus bonuses) is undoubtedly Gerry Cardinale, owner of RedBird Capital, who is very fond of the young Belgian.

Last Sunday evening, Cardinale even personally went to the sideline to embrace "his" Moreirá during the pre-match warm-up. Diego responded enthusiastically and thanked the owner with his first goal at the San Siro, coming on as a substitute for Saelemaekers in the 24th minute of the second half. After scoring, he ran straight to the South Stand to celebrate wildly.

Ready to perform

In Milan's first 6 matches of the season, the former Strasbourg player has started just once, making his debut against Juventus. Despite this, with 3 goals Moreirá is already the Rossoneri's leading scorer to start the season. Consequently, there is much discussion about what else the Belgian needs to do to earn a regular starting spot.

"That's not up to me, because if it were, of course I'd want to start every match in the lineup... But the manager decides who will be in his best eleven. We'll see if I can get back into the starting lineup after the international break, but for now everything is fine." In short, the decision rests with Rúben Amorim. In the match against Lecce, Amorim continued to deploy Moreirá as a "secret weapon" to change the game's momentum in the second half. But beyond the question of "when to play," there is another question: where should Cardinale's new favorite play?

Versatile player

In his Serie A debut against Juventus (his only start), the Belgian played as a right-flank winger. This was no coincidence: Moreirá replaced Samuel Chukwueze, whom Amorim has transformed into a dynamic winger. When the Portuguese manager opts to start the Nigerian, the former Strasbourg player often struggles to make an impact on the opposite flank. This "dual-flank" attacking setup appeared only in the second half of two matches, and Milan trailed in both.

In the match against Lazio, this tactical adjustment proved highly successful. Moreirá was moved to the left flank, and thanks to his brace the Rossoneri miraculously salvaged a draw in a match they were almost certainly losing. In the Europa League match against Benfica, despite a very active 33 minutes on the pitch, he again failed to score and couldn't spark a comeback.

In the recent match against Lecce, Amorim tried an interesting new setup: moving Moreirá higher up the pitch as one of two attacking midfielders behind Gonçalo Ramos. Strictly speaking, last Sunday evening Milan more often lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, with the Benfica academy product actually playing as a left midfielder.

Amorim's experiment was intriguing because Moreirá played for the first time alongside another left-footed winger (first Estupiñán, then Beltrama) providing defensive cover, which maintained good balance between the team's attack and defense. So what is Diego's preferred position? "Anywhere. I like playing on the right or left, higher or deeper. I'm very happy to play in any position and always give my all." The Belgian gave a diplomatically perfect answer.

Moreirá (along with De Winter, while Saelemaekers was excluded from Belgium's Nations League squad) will feature for his country during this three-week break (their first match against Italy). But upon his return after the break, with a busy schedule ahead, he will certainly have more opportunities to convince Amorim to finally include him in the starting lineup, and fans are already eagerly anticipating it.

Переведено ИИ.

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