Fonseca gives Leao the captain’s armband for Lecce game over Theo Hernandez

Paulo Fonseca has made a bold call for tonight’s game between AC Milan and Lecce by giving the captain’s armband to Rafael Leao rather than Theo Hernandez.

It was not a surprise to see Theo and Leao both keep their spots on the left flank of the starting line-up for tonight’s match given their importance to the team, but MilanNews are reporting that the winger will be the captain rather than the full-back.

The permanent club captain is Davide Calabria but he is out again due to a knock, and Theo is usually the vice-captain due to the fact it goes in order of club appearances. For this evening, Fonseca has chosen to entrust Leao with the armband, perhaps in a bid to get a top performance out of it.

Leao has been the captain before but usually in game situations where he is the player left on the field with the most games played for the club, and he is on 216 appearances across all competitions having been with the Rossoneri for over five years.

The former Lille man has a good record against Lecce and will hope to continue that tonight by getting his second (and possibly more) goal of the 2024-25 season. It took Leão seven minutes and 39 seconds to score as Milan captain against Verona last season.