It has been a season to forget so far for Pierre Kalulu due to the injuries that have tormented him, but he is back in training with the rest of the squad ahead of the final few games of the season.
As Calciomercato.com write, Kalulu has been able to amass only 315 minutes of game time across Serie A, Champions League and Europa League due to a couple of rather serious injuries, but he can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The Frenchman did the entirety of Wednesday’s training session with the rest of his team-mates and thus he has fully recovered from the knee sprain he suffered on March 17, which also resulted in a problem with his medial collateral ligament.
That came after the more serious issue sustained during the match against Napoli back on October 29th, a lesion of the left rectus femoris tendon, resulting in an operation and four-month stoppage, which added to the previous problem muscular at the beginning of September.
A signal for the future
It is a big boost for Kalulu to return for the last four games of the season because it helps replenish the defensive department, but above all the former Lyon man is eager to regain a leading role and regular playing time.
Milan will say goodbye to Simon Kjaer – whose contract is expiring – and they are expected to sign a central defender during the summer window. If Kalulu can return to the levels seen in the Scudetto run-in of 2021-22, they would have an added certainty.
Last season his performance was more fluctuating, also due to the repeated position changes to which Stefano Pioli subjected him out of necessity. It meant he was used both as a centre-back and a right-back, plus on the right of a three-man defence.
Choices to make
A tactical issue that is anything but secondary, because it could direct the choices of the management – above all Geoffrey Moncada and Zlatan Ibrahimovic – on what type of player to direct a more substantial investment.
There is the desire both to aim for a right-back capable of challenging for Davide Calabria’s starting spot (Tiago Santos of Lille, as we reported) and a left-footed central defender like Alessandro Buongiorno of Torino or Lilian Brassier of Brest.
Kalulu arrived for around €500k from Lyon in the summer of 2021 and is linked to Milan by a contract expiring in 2027. The rumours about offers from PSG and Bayern Munich have faded due to the many physical problems suffered by the Frenchman, so now he must work on getting back to his best.
We need the Scudetto season version of Kalulu. If he recovers anything like Bennacer then we won’t really see much out of him until the 25-26 season. And Calabria BADLY needs competition on that side to elevate his game.
Find something else to do bud. There are players who were not made for the game.