Milan: Suso Escaped Liverpool Yet Is Still Unhappy
Having hightailed out of a dead end at Liverpool, Spanish right/central/left attacking midfielder Suso, 21, finds himself in practically the same situation at AC Milan.
What has gone wrong for Suso?
I Can Quit Whenever I Want
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
August 2, 2014. Charlotte, North Carolina.
Intercepting an errant pass on the right wing just inside of Liverpool's half, Suso saunters forward, drifts centrally while evading two tackles.
Playing a one-two with Philippe Coutinho, Suso dispatches the ball into the bottom corner for a well-placed goal.
It is the International Champions Cup and Suso just scored against AC Milan.
Having made a positive impression in Liverpool's 2-0 win over AC Milan, Suso invariably became a viable transfer target for the Rossoneri.
The context being Suso was projected to be a financially feasible signing for AC Milan chief executive officer Adriano Galliani.
"[Suso] is a player with a contract expiring in June who must decide whether to stay at Liverpool or go elsewhere," Galliani said, per Nadia Carminati at Sky Sports. "We'll see in January."
Unwilling to sign a new contract while rehabilitating from groin surgery, Suso became an afterthought in the mind of Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.
"My contract was set to expire in June and Liverpool's offer did not satisfy me," Suso said, per Marca (h/t Joe Rimmer at the Liverpool Echo). "I have grown [at Liverpool], but I have not noticed a lot of trust in me [from Rodgers]."
Suso upped the ante and effectively forced his way out of Anfield.
"Liverpool are unhappy that Suso went ahead with a medical [at AC Milan] without the club's permission," per Chris Bascombe at The Telegraph. "The Spaniard's attitude has been questioned by the club in recent months."
Agreeing to join AC Milan in the summer transfer window, per David Amoyal at GianlucaDiMarzio.com, you would have assumed Suso would run down his expiring contract.
This step was needed in order for him to exercise his Bosman right to a free transfer at the end of the season.
However, Liverpool opted to sell him to AC Milan in January for a nominal fee of around €1.4/£1 million.
The Invisible Boy
"I must adapt to a new [league], new teammates and a new coach," Suso said, per MilanNews.it (h/t Football Italia). "I am completely available for him."
The "new coach" and "him" being rookie manager Filippo Inzaghi.
Signing a contract at AC Milan until 2019, Suso selected the No. 8 shirt, hoping it would bring him the same success he experienced when he won the 2012 UEFA European U19 Championship.
What Suso did not envision was his AC Milan experience mirroring that of the previous No. 8—Riccardo Saponara.
"Suso is here because Riccardo Saponara wanted more playing time and we could not guarantee him that," Inzaghi said, per Football Italia. "[Suso] has great quality [out wide] and can also play in a more central role [No. 10]."
Literally taking the place of Saponara, Suso has gone from making up the numbers at Liverpool to a squad-filler at AC Milan.
To give you an idea of Suso's average positioning: On loan at Almeria last season, he started 61.5 percent of games on the right (16/26), 30.8 percent of games on the left (8/26) and 7.7 percent of games centrally (2/26).
| Date | Serie A Game | Formation | > Suso | right (R), central (C), left (L) |
| 24/1/15 | Lazio 3-1 AC Milan | 4-3-3 | Giacomo Bonaventura (R), Stephan El Shaarawy (L) |
| 1/2/15 | AC Milan 3-1 Parma | 4-2-3-1 | Alessio Cerci (R), Jeremy Menez (C), Keisuke Honda (L) |
| 7/2/15 | Juventus 3-1 AC Milan | 4-3-3 | Alessio Cerci (R), Jeremy Menez (L) |
| 15/2/15 | AC Milan 1-1 Empoli | 4-2-3-1 | Keisuke Honda (R), Jeremy Menez (C), Giacomo Bonaventura (L) |
| 22/2/15 | AC Milan 2-0 Cesena | 4-3-1-2 | Giacomo Bonaventura (C) |
| 28/2/15 | Chievo Verona 0-0 AC Milan | 4-3-1-2 | Giacomo Bonaventura (C) |
| 7/3/15 | AC Milan 2-2 Hellas Verona | 4-3-1-2 | Jeremy Menez (C) |
- 4-2-3-1: Ideal formation for Suso with three starting spots.
- 4-3-3: Only two starting places for Suso as he is not a centre-forward.
- 4-3-1-2: Neither a central midfielder nor has a realistic chance of starting as the central attacking midfielder. Fourth-choice behind Menez, Bonaventura and Honda.
Forget about being a starter, Inzaghi does not even rate Suso as an impact sub.
Please note the bolded players are in theory taking away a substitute appearance from Suso.
| Date | Serie A Game | Substitutes Used (Minute) |
| 24/1/15 | Lazio 3-1 AC Milan | Alessio Cerci (51), Giampaolo Pazzini (54), Sulley Muntari (82) |
| 1/2/15 | AC Milan 3-1 Parma | Michael Essien (45), Sulley Muntari (73), Giampaolo Pazzini (80) |
| 7/2/15 | Juventus 3-1 AC Milan | Giampaolo Pazzini (36), Giacomo Bonaventura (61), Adil Rami (77) |
| 15/2/15 | AC Milan 1-1 Empoli | Salvatore Bocchetti (7), Alessio Cerci (78), Christian Abbiati (84). |
| 22/2/15 | AC Milan 2-0 Cesena | Giampaolo Pazzini (62), Marco van Ginkel (79), Alessio Cerci (85) |
| 28/2/15 | Chievo Verona 0-0 AC Milan | Keisuke Honda (45), Giampaolo Pazzini (64), Alessio Cerci (77) |
| 7/3/15 | AC Milan 2-2 Hellas Verona | Keisuke Honda (63), Salvatore Bocchetti (76), Mattia Destro (91) |
Starting and finishing on the bench in seven games over a one-month span, Suso has watched AC Milan win two, draw three and lose two games.
AC Milan, currently the 10th-best team in Serie A, is a big-name club but it is a fading force.
Cerci, voted by La Gazzetta dello Sport readers as the worst January transfer signing so far, is trusted more by Inzaghi than Suso.
That gives you an idea of how unfairly he has been treated.
Misunderstood
"I am very happy to be here. I am adapting to life in Italy, which is similar to that in Spain," Suso said, per Milan Channel (h/t talkSPORT). "Of course I would have liked to have played more, but I am waiting for my chance."
If you replaced Suso with compatriot Didac Vila, it is roughly the same message.
"I am happy to have been given another chance by Milan, it was my dream. For me it is a joy and pleasure to be here," Vila said, per ACMilan.com. "I hope this will turn out to be a lucky year."
Both are saying the right things, but deep down, logic will tell you they are probably unhappy.
All the hoping Vila did failed to result in an extended starting run.
Since 2011, Vila has only started one Serie A game for AC Milan.
From being one of Spain's most promising left-backs, Vila, now 25 years of age, is facing an uncertain future having spent most of the last four years as a loanee.
Suso is on a Vila-like course.
How Suso deals with the early disappointment of his inertness at AC Milan will give you a rough idea if he will ever maximise his talent in a Rossoneri shirt.
When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
