Yahoo Sports CM: ‘He has to grow’ – Fonseca challenges Chukwueze to turn difficult start around
Samuel Chukwueze has been one of the mysteries of the start to the season for AC Milan and Paulo Fonseca’s words in Friday’s press conference outlined how he sees the situation.
As Calciomercato.com recall, Fonseca responded as follows when asked about Chukwueze’s difficulty in getting starts: “He had a very good pre-season, when he had space against big teams. When we arrived here, against Torino and Lazio, I think Chukwu was not as good as in the pre-season
“It’s not a problem of quality, but of confidence. He needs to gain confidence and play in this context: in Serie A he has no space, he has to make movements at the right time, he has little time to decide.
“He came on well against Inter, he has to grow in games perhaps like the one tomorrow, without space. He has to grow in this.”
The Nigerian winger has only amassed 148 minutes in this start of the season, too little for a player that Milan had wanted so strongly that they invested €20m plus €8m in bonuses to sign him from Villarreal.
The growth shown at the end of last season and in preseason has stopped totally or almost, and with such underwhelming performances – plus Christian Pulisic continuing his red-hot form – the door is closed to a starting spot.
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Fonseca has not thrown in the towel but, on the contrary, wants to work to improve Chukwueze both technically and in terms of character, with the support of a team that are big supporters of the 25-year-old.
Samu must do something more both in training and in the opportunities that will come to him from the former Lille coach otherwise he risks ending up being sold, despite just one full season at the club and a contract until 2028.
