Tag: Chukwueze

In what would be his last pre-Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) match for his Italian club, Super Eagles striker Samuel Chukwueze is expected to be in the starting line as AC Milan square up against Cagliari in the Coppa Italia match tonight.

The Super Eagles camp opens today in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) but Chukwueze is being expected after the Coppa Italia Round of 16 clash against Cagliari where he has been pencilled to start ahead of Christian Pulisic.

A section of the Italian press has lamented that Milan will soon be deprived of l Chukwueze’s services as the AFCON gets underway on January 13 with hosts Cote d’Ivoire facing Guinea-Bissau.

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Chukwueze’s first match with Nigeria is going to be against Equatorial Guinea on January 14.

The earliest that Chukwueze’s time at AFCON can end is January 22, as that is when the group stage will end for Nigeria. If they have been knocked out, which is not expected, then Chukwueze will return.

The round of 16 is going to be played between January 28 and 30, so there is at least an extra week of his absence if Nigeria get out of their group.

The quarter-finals are slated between February 2 and 3 while the semi-finals are February 7, and the final is either February 10 or 11.

He is guaranteed to miss Milan’s Serie A clashes with Empoli, Roma and Udinese, but there is the potential to also miss matches against Bologna, Frosinone and Napoli. Even the first Europa League match against Stade Rennes on February 15 would likely come too soon were he to get to the final with Nigeria.

Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze will arrive in Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations preparatory camp on January 3 because AC Milan agreed with the NFF to allow him to play their game against Cagliari on January 2.

Chukwueze has not impressed since his move to AC Milan, but he made Nigeria’s 25-man squad for the 2023 AFCON in January.

Ahead of the competition, all selected players were expected to resume camp on January 1- two weeks before the competition, according to FIFA rules.

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The African showpiece has been criticised over the years because of the timing, as most players involved ply their trades in Europe. Nonetheless, most of them eventually accept it because of their inability to change the status quo.

AC Milan is one of the clubs that is affected, albeit slightly. They will lose two players, Ismael Bennacer and Chukwueze.

AC Milan were reportedly  in talks with the Algerian and Nigerian football federations to let Bennacer and Chukwueze resume camp on January 3 because of their game against Cagliari.

In a recent development, according to AC Milan Insider, Algeria rejected the Rossoneri’s request, but Nigeria accepted it. This means that Chukwueze will play for the Italian giants on January 2 before leaving immediately for Nigeria’s camp.

Nigeria begin their Nations Cup journey on January 14 with a game against Equatorial Guinea.

AC Milan technical director Geoffrey Moncada has been impressed by winger Samuel Chukwueze’s displays for the club in their last two games in the UEFA Champions League. 

Chukwueze, who joined Milan from Villarreal last summer, hasn’t found it easy adapting to his new surroundings.

However, the 24-year-old Nigerian found his footing recently and put together a string of promising performances in the Champions League for the Rossoneri.

He has failed to replicate the form in the Serie A, firing blanks in eleven matches, six of which he started.

According to Tuttosport via SempreMilan, Moncada spoke well of the young wideman, stating the workaholic nature of the former Villarreal winger projects a good future at the club.

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Against Newcastle United on Wednesday night, Chukwueze came on as a substitute and combined brilliantly with Noah Okafor to fire a powerful shot past Martin Dubravka to seal a much needed 2-1 win for AC Milan as well as a third place group finish and a Europa league play-off spot.

“Chukwueze? I’m happy for him because he’s a good guy who works a lot and I’m sure that the future for him will be good for us” Moncada remarked.

AC Milan fans will be hoping the technical director’s encouraging assessment proves accurate, and that Chukwueze provides an offensive spark from the wing position as the team pushes to achieve a top four finish this season.

Super Eagles attacker, Samuel Chukwueze , was edged to the Man of the Match Award in their Champions League group stage tie despite scoring the goal that delivered AC Milan’s UEFA Europa League knock out ticket against Newcastle United .

Joelinton had put Newcastle United in front in the 33rd minute before Christian Pullisic equalised for the Rossoneri in the 59th minute.

The game was tilting to another drawn game just like it was in San Siro until Chukwueze was introduced in the 83rd minute as Yunus Musah replacement. Barely a minute after his introduction the Super Eagles winger curled the ball beyond the reach of Newcastle United goalkeeper for AC Milan’s second goal of the game.

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The goal lifted AC Milan from being bottom of the group to third spot with eight points from six games but they narrowly missed the Champions League Round of 16 ticket on goals difference to Paris Saint Germain.

Overall, English player, Fikayo Tomori was picked as the Man of the Match with Chukwueze finishing third behind goalkeeper, Mike Miagnan.

Describing the performance of Tomori, the club’s media wrote: “Tomori was excellent in holding out in what was a tough opening half for the team. He was solid and alert, an attitude to applaud that helped in driving on his teammates too. The sliding tackle to stop Almirón from scoring was perfectly timed, slightly off-balanced but gigantic in scooping his foot around the ball to steer it away from the goal line and behind for a corner. Strength and grit, Fikayo received 50% of the vote ahead of Maignan and Chukwueze.

Chukwueze has played in 15 games with two goals in all competitions.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has returned to AC Milan as an advisor to the Serie A club’s management, owners RedBird Capital Partners  has confirmed..

In a statement , American investment firm RedBird said that the former Sweden striker, who won a host of trophies as a player in Italy, will “serve as a senior advisor to AC Milan ownership and senior management”.

The 42-year-old has also been hired as “Operating Partner” for RedBird’s “sports and media and entertainment investment portfolio”.

RedBird said that Ibrahimovic’s mandate at Milan “will include player development and high-performance training, advancing AC Milan’s global brand and commercial interests, and supporting special projects of strategic importance, including the club’s new stadium.”

Within RedBird, Ibrahimovic “will help source and evaluate new investment opportunities for the firm, and will advise RedBird portfolio companies on commercial projects, digital content strategies and strategic brand building initiatives”.

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Ibrahimovic brought the curtain down on his eventful playing career at the end of last season, in which he was dogged by injury and netted just once for Milan.

That goal came in a 3-1 win at Udinese in March and made him the oldest goal scorer in Serie A history.

Ibrahimovic was a key figure in Milan’s resurgence to the top of Italian football after his return as a veteran forward in 2019, helping to bring them back from the doldrums and eventually win the Serie A title in 2022.

He was also key to the club’s previous Scudetto 11 years before, which was followed by a long period of stagnation and financial problems before revitalisation under current coach Stefano Pioli.

Over the course of his career Ibrahimovic won league titles in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France, although his only major European trophy was the 2017 Europa League with Manchester United.

He rejoins Milan with the team nine points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan and facing a group stage exit from the Champions League.

AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli has saluted Samuel Chukwueze after he crowned a heart-warming display with his first goal for the Italian club in a UEFA Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund.

Chukwueze has struggled to find form at Milan since his summer transfer from Villarreal, but he showed glimpses of his class in Tuesday night’s 3-1 home loss to Dortmund.

He scored a super individual goal to draw Milan level by half time and overall he had a good game before he was subbed off late in the encounter.

It was a massive way to announce himself to the fans at the San Siro.

“I am happy; finally, he was decisive in the offensive phase. There are important signs of growth from him that will facilitate his integration,” Pioli commended.

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In a related development, only Chukwueze with three other players were scored high by the critical Italian media following AC Milan’s shock 3-1 loss to Dortmund.

The Italian media have not been kind to AC Milan after their 3-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund which leaves their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

The scores in Tuttosport’s ratings (via MilanNews) reflect what was a very difficult night at the office for a number of players, starting with two supposed leaders in Davide Calabria and Olivier Giroud who both got a 4.5 out of 10.

The only players to get a passing grade were Fikayo Tomori, Yacine Adli, Chukwueze and the substitute Luka Jovic, who was unlucky at the end when his header hit the post.

Milan are bottom of Group F with five points from as many matches and will now need to win at Newcastle in a final group game and hope Dortmund stop PSG to have any chance of advancing to the round of 16.

AC Milan are dealing with a crisis in attack as Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao will miss out on the Fiorentina clash.

As a result, the disappointing Luka Jovic will get a chance to start along with Samuel Chukwueze.

Giroud is serving a two-game suspension and Leao is recovering from a hamstring injury, meaning they will both be unavailable on Saturday. Initially, it seemed Noah Okafor would take the No.9 spot but that won’t be the case.

According to Tuttosport, as cited by MilanNews, Pioli will most likely give Jovic the chance from the start instead of Okafor. The latter has been on international duty with Switzerland and will return today, meaning he won’t have much time to prepare. Not to mention that he started all three games for his country.

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In addition to Jovic, Chukwueze should also get the chance and he’s another player who needs to step up. He will play on the right flank, which means Christian Pulisic will be on the left instead. The Nigerian has collected just one assist so far and Milan need him to step up now more than ever.

The Rossoneri paid €20m plus an additional €8m in bonuses for his services and so far, it has been a disappointing outcome. However, there is still plenty left of the season for Chukwueze to show what he can do.

Nigeria  international  striker Samuel Chukwueze is being tipped  to star when action returns this  weekend  in  the  Serie A  as AC Milan host Fiorentina in a  MatchDay 13 fixture at the San Siro.

Chukwueze , who  was Milan’s  most expensive player during the  summer transfer, is yet to light up  the Serie A the same way he did  in the La Liga with  Villarreal amidst injuries which ruled him out of action for Nigeria during  the latest international break  where the Super Eagles earned  an identical 1-1 draw against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in the 2026 FIFA World Cup   African qualifying tournament.

  But as action resumes  this  weekend  in  the Serie A,  there are growing optimism  in the Italian  media that the 24-year-old  striker  has the chance  to fulfil his potentialities with Milan starting  with Saturday’s  match  against Fiorentina

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“Chance for Chukwueze: he wants to take over Milan’. The game after the international break could well be a sliding doors moment for the winger,”  Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) noted. “The Nigerian will start on the right wing against Fiorentina on Saturday at San Siro in a game where both Olivier Giroud (suspended) and Rafael Leao (injured) will not be available. The task is simple: to begin repaying Milan’s investment after the €20m (plus €8m bonuses) summer move.

“The former Villarreal man is almost certain of a spot, because if Christian Pulisic is fully fit then he will move to the left flank to take Leao’s spot, and the paper states that Noah Okafor is still the favourite at the moment to start down the middle over Luka Jovic,” the tabloid added.

Chukwueze  who joined AC Milan in June, has made only made eight  Serie A  appearances  as well as  two others in  the UEFA Champions League  but he has yet to register a goal in all these 10 matches.

Christian Pulisic is expected to miss the game against Lecce which is another injury blow for AC Milan, but it does provide Samuel Chukwueze with a chance to demonstrate his abilities.

Yesterday’s edition of Tuttosport (via PianetaMilan) wrote how Milan have little time to enjoy the victory that they obtained in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, because they have a must-win game against Lecce tomorrow.

Pulisic is not expected to be present and if he is then it will not be from the start.

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The American forward suffered a contracture of the flexor muscle of his left thigh and the MRI – which he underwent yesterday – ruled out an injury.

However, since it is the same problem as Napoli, his conditions will be monitored day by day. Against Lecce it will be Chukwueze’s turn to show why he was the most expensive signing of the summer transfer window, given he is yet to score a goal and is returning after a one-month absence.

Troubled  AC Milan have been handed  triple injury  boost  including that of Nigeria  international striker, Samuel  Chukwueze  ahead of today’s UEFA Champions League (UCL)  match   against  Paris Saint Germain .

The other   two players who are expected to be available for the decider at the San Siro , are Theo Hernandez and  Christian Pulisic.

The duo  as well as  Chukwueze reportedly missed Milan’s 1-0 loss against Udinese on Saturday due to injuries but have been training with the group during the last two days.

Chukwueze  had n suffered a left hamstring injury while away on international duty in last  month’s  friendly against  Saudi Arabia  thus ruling him out of the other match against Mozambique.

But  words were rife yesterday in  the Italian media  that the previously injured trio  that missed Milan’s 1-0 loss against Udinese on Saturday,  have been training with the group during the last two days.

In fact,  videos circulating on social media  yesterday show Theo, Pulisic and Chukwueze training with their teammates  and are expectedly  to be available for tonight’s  game.

Milan have not  been  at their  best in recent matches  following that  3-0 away loss  to  PSG  in the first leg of their encounter last month  as well as poor results  in the  Serie A including that  1-0 loss  to Juventus  ; the 2-2 draw against Napoli  and Saturday’s 1-0 home loss  to Udinese .

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 Yet under-fire  Milan head coach Stefano Pioli in his press conference yesterday  said  the Rossoneri  have the capacity  to turn a new curve against PSG tonight even more so with the return of Chukwueze , Hernandez and Pulisic.

Speaking specifically about the likelihood of fielding  the returning trio  against PSG, Pioli confirmed that Pulisic will start against PSG, Chukwueze would be able to come off the bench if needed.

“They(Pulisic, Loftus, Theo and Chukwueze)  are fine,” he said. “Chukwueze has a little less playing time but has been training for two days. Pulisic will come off and Chukwu will be ready to replace him.”

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