Time could be running out for Milan ace as potential exit touted

July 1, 2020 MilanTalk Staff Blog, News, NewsNow 0

With his role in the side seemingly diminishing, questions are reportedly starting to be asked about Davide Calabria’s future at Milan ahead of the summer.

The 23-year-old has come through the ranks with the Rossoneri, making his breakthrough at senior level in the 2014/15 campaign and he has since gone on to make 103 appearances for the club.

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Through the early part of his breakthrough, there was real optimism over the right-back and his progression, as he showed positive signs of being capable of emerging as an important option in defence while he boasted the versatility to play on either side of the backline too.

Having made 33 appearances last season, his highest tally in a single campaign since 2014, it looked as though he had cemented his place in the starting XI.

However, through a series of costly errors, vulnerabilities emerging and a limited influence going forward coupled with injury problems, he has arguably lost his way and subsequently lost his place in the line-up as Andrea Conti has emerged as Stefano Pioli’s first-choice option in that position this year.

Calabria’s downfall

Whether it’s misplaced passes putting us in danger or being exposed defensively at right-back and being unable to nullify the opposition’s threat, Calabria has rarely offered solidity on that flank on a consistent basis.

In more recent times, it looks as though those mistakes are perhaps playing on his mind as he’s arguably more hesitant in his play now and is lacking confidence, or is perhaps trying too hard and that leads to more errors creeping in as he’s also been sent off twice in just 18 games this season.

Further, he had shown a capability of offering something going forward previously as he has two goals and seven assists to his name, but whether it’s the emergence of Theo Hernandez on the opposite flank to become our primary option to create width or his own inability to get forward and make the difference, that part of Calabria’s game has seemingly been stunted too.

Having been left on the bench for five of the last seven Serie A games, things appear to have taken a turn for the worse for the Italian defender this week as MilanNews note that his agent was at Casa Milan this week, as also seen in the video below, with his future being discussed.

It’s added that he has offers on the table and so it remains to be seen if he opts to pursue one of them and Milan give the green light to an exit, as given he is a youth product, his transfer fee would represent a significant boost for the books in the relevant financial year.

Further, Mundo Deportivo also note that Sevilla could emerge as an option for Calabria.

While it’s always disappointing to see an academy player ultimately fail to make the cut, as we’ve seen with the likes of Patrick Cutrone, Manuel Locatelli and Bryan Cristante in recent years, it seems history could repeat itself this summer.

Given we’re playing almost every three days to complete the current campaign, Calabria will likely get a chance to prove his worth between now and the end of the season if we rotate the squad. His form when selected by Pioli could go a long way in deciding whether or not he’s still a Milan player when next season gets underway, but the seeds of doubt are seemingly already creating real concern over his future which is now a subject of discussion.