On Thursday night, Milan put up an impressive performance against Manchester United in the first leg of the Europe League round of 16. Although Simon Kjaer grabbed the equalizer in injury time, Franck Kessié was arguably the star of the show.
Whilst the match ended with a goal for each side, the best highlight of the night was definitely the Ivorian’s disallowed goal. It is still unclear whether or not the midfielder handed the ball, but the wonder strike should have stood just based on its beauty.
Moreover, the former Atalanta man dominated the middle of the park, as he won countless balls in the midfield, limited the danger of Bruno Fernandes, and distributed the play for the Rossoneri.
Kessié is enjoying the best season of his Milan career so far, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed, as he earned specific high praise from technical director Paolo Maldini.
“Franck’s growth is exponential, not only on a sporting level, but also in terms of driving the boys forward,” said the club legend in an interview with Sky Sports (via MilanNews.it) prior to the Old Trafford encounter.
“He’s a player who helps his team on and off the pitch, and unsurprisingly he’s called ‘The President’. Most of all, Kessié is someone who leads in the locker-room alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic.” concluded the former defender.
The 24-year-old joined Milan in the summer of 2017 on an initial loan fee from Atalanta worth 8 million euros, before being redeemed by the Diavolo for an additional fee of 24 millions.
Although the Ivorian international had his ups and downs in the previous seasons, he has recently cemented himself as one of the best midfielders in Serie A.
During the current campaign, Kessié has so far managed to score 9 goals and provided 3 assists in his 25 league appearances for Milan.