With Alessio Romagnoli fighting for a starting place and Gianluigi Donnarumma set to leave, AC Milan have question marks over their club captain selection.
While the centre-half battled injury and subsequently competition for a starting berth in the second half of last season, Donnarumma stood in to deputise and was ultimately the obvious choice.
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However, with the Italian shot-stopper’s contract set to expire as he moves on to a new challenge at the end of this month, coupled with Romagnoli’s questionable status as a starter moving forward, there is seemingly a decision to be made on the captaincy.
Provided he stays at the club this summer, given he is one of the longest-standing members of the current squad coupled with the fact that taking the armband off him could be a crushing move, Romagnoli may well keep his status as club captain regardless.
Nevertheless, assuming he isn’t named as a starter next season with Fikayo Tomori keeping him out of the XI, if he seals a permanent move from Chelsea, then that leaves a decision on who takes his place.
Kjaer emerges as strong candidate
The talking point has gained further prevalence this week after Simon Kjaer’s heroic act of leadership, professionalism and brotherhood was on full display after the scary scenes involving Christian Eriksen.
Thankfully, the Danish playmaker is recovering well from what has since been confirmed as a cardiac arrest, with Kjaer receiving plaudits from all corners for his quick-thinking to help his teammate as well as for consoling Eriksen’s stricken wife as she waited for news.
That in itself should be recognised and commended fully, but will it have a knock-on effect for Milan when selecting a new captain, should they decide to do so ahead of next season.
Kjaer is undoubtedly a strong candidate given his importance to the side in the heart of the backline, as his experience and leadership came to the fore last season as he played a fundamental role in helping us secure second place.
The towering Dane marshals the defence well and leads from the back while despite concerns over his fitness and injury history, he has been involved in a significant amount of games since his arrival.
Arguments will fairly be made for Davide Calabria, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Franck Kessie, and the Ivorian midfield-powerhouse is perhaps the strongest challenger to Kjaer given Ibrahimovic’s injury woes and Calabria is still gaining the experience needed to become the team’s leader.
Milan’s first big decision comes with Romagnoli. To take the armband from him would be a potentially damaging move if he does stay, but in Kjaer they have a player, and a man, who is more than ready to take the reins and lead us forward.
