Rúben Amorim is considering using Samuel Chukwueze as a right wing-back, a role the Nigerian has never played before, according to Tuttosport.
A few weeks ago Chukwueze looked like one of the more obvious summer sales, a €20m+ signing from 2023 who never settled and spent the second half of last season on loan at Fulham. That framing has flipped. With Rafael Leão's future unresolved and Christian Pulisic carrying an injury, Milan's left-footed attacking options have thinned out to the point where Chukwueze is now the only one in the squad. Amorim confirmed as much in his first press conference, singling out the Nigerian's one-v-one quality and saying he wanted to keep him.
The tactical twist arrived on Monday. In the first open training session, Amorim tested Chukwueze in the right wing-back slot of his 3-4-2-1 rather than as a right-sided attacking midfielder behind the striker, which is the position that fits his profile most cleanly on paper.
If it seems like an odd experiment, the precedent is the giveaway. Amorim did the same thing with Amad Diallo at Manchester United, and before that with Geny Catamo and Geovany Quenda at Sporting CP. Taking a natural winger and pulling him back into the wing-back line is a recurring move in his sides, not a one-off.
For now the most likely outcome is still Chukwueze starting in the front three while Leão's situation and Pulisic's fitness get sorted. Whether Amorim then pushes on with the wing-back conversion depends on what else arrives before the window shuts, and on how quickly the Nigerian takes to a role he's never had to learn.