The last signing of AC Milan of the summer at Junior Messias was the most anticipated in the sense that a striker had finally arrived after a long and endless chase.
Gianluca Di Marzio (via Milan News) said the deal figures are as follows: Milan will pay Crotone € 2.6m for the Brazilian’s loan, with a call option set at € 5.4m and € 1m additional bonus euros.
Messias is arriving as an unknown quantity despite his Serie A exploits last season, so we took a look at what we can expect …
Pass
Messias’ story is now known to Milan fans, thanks to the club doing a great job with their reveal videos. For someone who came to Italy with his family in search of financial security to work as a delivery boy and fulfill his dream of playing for Milan, it’s quite a fairy tale.
The Italian rules for registering non-European players in Italy’s lower divisions (Serie B, Serie C and Serie D) are quite strange. Serie B and third tier teams are not allowed to register non-European players and are only allowed to sign professional contracts when they win the fourth division with their team.
Junior Messias played with Gozzano in Serie D and won the division, which prompted Crotone – who was then in Serie B – to offer him a professional contract.
The style of play
At 179cm tall, Junior Messias has a very stocky build and is predominantly left-handed. Messias can be seen more as a running back and dribbler than a passer.
Playing as a Mezzala or a supporting striker in a 3-5-2 system, Messias has more attacking instincts than defensive instincts and likes to occupy wide areas or the right half-space and look to lead blockers. -attacks.
