AC Milan midfielder Lucas Paqueta has failed to showcase his full potential so far but the time is right for him to make a quality lead forward.
MILAN NEWS – Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta is a candidate to become one of the protagonists of Stefano Pioli’s team, who recently took the place of Marco Giampaolo on the Rossoneri bench. Former coach Giampaolo did not have such an idyllic relationship with Paqueta. Let’s look at the numbers and statistics depicting the experience so far of Paqueta at the Rossoneri.
Born in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), on August 22nd 1997, Lucas Paqueta turned 22 not later than two months ago. He has his entire career ahead of him.
38.4 million euros: this is the official figure, as shown by the balance sheet closed on June 30, 2019, paid by AC Milan to Flamengo in order to lure him at San Siro. The fee may raise up to €45 million if certain clauses are met in the future.
He chose the jersey number 39 because it was the one he had at the beginning of his career in the first team of Flamengo, before abdicating and then passing on to 29, then to 16 and, finally, settling for the number 11.
Lucas Paqueta made his debut with AC Milan on 12 January 2019, on the occasion of Sampdoria vs Milan 0-2, Coppa Italia round of 16. The Brazilian remained on the pitch, on that match, for 85 minutes. He made his league debut again at the Marassi stadium, on 21 January 2019, but this time against Genoa. Even Genoa-Milan finished 0-2 with Paqueta playing the entire 90 minutes.
In his first six months at AC Milan, from January to June 2019, Paqueta collected 17 appearances, divided between Serie A (13), Coppa Italia (3) and the Italian Super cup final, scoring one goal, providing 3 assists, and getting 5 yellow cards and one red in 1.178 minutes spent in his half a season in Italy.
So far, in the new season, Paqueta has made 5 appearances, all in Serie A, with an assist and 3 yellow cards in 216 minutes. His assist in Genoa-Milan 1-2 on 5 October 2019 served for Theo Hernandez’s equalizer. The 22-year-old is wanted by PSG who are willing to invest 40 million for his services. However, the Rossoneri have no intention to sell. He joined last year during mid-season and still did very great but now it’s time for Paqueta to become a leader of Pioli’s side.
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