Last month, Andrea Conti’s agent revealed that the Milan right-back had around six offers to potentially seal an exit from the club over the summer.
It came after an injury-plagued first two seasons with us limited him to just 20 appearances, and with Davide Calabria battling for the same spot in the starting XI and seemingly establishing himself as the first choice option, it didn’t look too promising for the former Atalanta defender.
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As noted by Calciomercato, that led to talk of a possible exit this past summer with his agent, Mario Giuffredi, not shy in making it public that they had multiple offers as interest was still high in his client.
However, Conti’s stance was reportedly clear in that he wanted to stay at Milan and he ultimately bet on himself to not only displace Calabria in the starting XI, but to put his injury nightmare behind him, become a first-team regular and rediscover his best form.
There is still a long road ahead of him and so it’s worth noting that this isn’t a post to suggest that he is now back to his best and will 100 percent be a fundamental figure for Milan moving forward.
While he will no doubt be making that his objective, the fact that he has started the last five consecutive games and importantly has shown that he is capable of putting his injury woes behind him to play a solid role at right-back is enough to suggest that he is certainly on the right track.
Defensively, the 25-year-old has looked more settled in recent weeks as he has improved his positioning and awareness, while perhaps playing week in and week out is helping his sharpness and ability to get back into good areas.
Going forward he has perhaps looked less impressive as given the quality on his delivery and his ability to get up and down the right flank to create dangerous situations, we haven’t seen much of it.
That said, with Theo Hernandez bombing down the left wing at every available opportunity and creating all sorts of problems for the opposition, a balance is needed and Conti is seemingly having to shift in and do a defensive cover job to allow his teammate to flourish.
Nevertheless, he now appears to have relegated Calabria to a bench role and so will now be focused on keeping his place in the side and continuing to play a key role in Milan’s improvement as it looks as though betting on himself to come good with the Rossoneri is finally starting to pay off.
With Hernandez suspended this weekend for a trip to Conti’s old club Atalanta and given Ricardo Rodriguez’s limitations going forward, this could be a perfect opportunity for him to solidify his importance to Milan and offer further proof that he is now a vital piece in the side moving forward.