AC Milan’s decision to sign Emerson Royal to try and fix the right-back spot has been criticised by The Athletic writer James Horncastle, who likened it to a charitable donation to Spurs.
The pursuit of Royal was talked about for weeks and was confirmed last month. It was also announced that he will be under contract with the Rossoneri until June 30, 2028 and there is an option for another year after that.
The 25-year-old right-back was pursued by Milan for much of the summer transfer window but the two clubs struggled to agree on the transfer fee. He arrived to a mixed reaction from fans who question if he is an upgrade, while we profiled him in-depth in a feature.
Horncastle has published a round-up piece for The Athletic talking about the main topics in Serie A over the weekend and he took aim at Milan after their poor start to the season.
“Milan keep conceding the same goal too, down Emerson Royal’s side. His €15million (£12.6m; 16.6m) signing from Tottenham Hotspur looks like the biggest donation in the history of Fondazione Milan as the club charitably tries to make his wish to become a footballer come true,” he said.
The journalist went on to talk about Paulo Fonseca’s baptism of fire, at least from a results perspective, and how he needs to avoid slipping down the same slope that Rudi Garcia did at Napoli.
“Technical issues aside, the optics aren’t good for Fonseca. Another former Roma and Lille coach was rapidly discredited by real or perceived displays of contempt in Serie A this time last year,” he added.
“Rudi Garcia lasted until November at Napoli after Victor Osimhen, Matteo Politano and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia all publicly disdained his in-game decision-making.
“Winless in his first three games, two of which came against revelations Parma and Torino, it’s too early to judge Fonseca. But already he has to avoid the Garcia caricatures.
“The senior players in the dressing room must bring Hernandez and Leao into line. The issue is they are the senior players.”
