Filippo Inzaghi has given his backing to Goncalo Ramos, telling Gazzetta dello Sport that the summer signing has the profile to end the long-running struggles of Milan's No.9 shirt.
Ramos arrived for €75m as the centre-forward Milan built their attack around after a season that ended without Champions League football, a signing meant to solve a problem that has outlasted several managers. The No.9 jersey has been a burden at San Siro for years, with only Olivier Giroud managing to shake it off among recent wearers.
Speaking in Perth, where the club has been touring, Inzaghi was asked directly whether he rates the Portuguese striker. “He and Gila are nice reinforcements. The Portuguese moves well and has goals in his blood. Let's hope this year the striker is the right one and that that number 9 jersey brings him luck,” he said.
Pressed on the curse that has hung over the shirt, Inzaghi kept it light. “We joke about these things too much and I hope Ramos does well, so we can put this matter to rest.”
The former striker, who knows the weight of that shirt as well as anyone, also gave his read on the season ahead under Sergio Amorim's rebuild. “I hope that AC Milan, with their new coach and the important new signings they've made, can compete until the end. History teaches us that the Rossoneri must stay at that level,” he said, before naming Inter as favourites off the back of their Scudetto, with Juventus and Napoli close behind.
Much of the interview turned on Franco Baresi, whose recent passing clearly moved Inzaghi. He recalled first watching Baresi at San Siro as a boy in 1983 and still keeping the defender's Parma-Milan shirt from March 1996. “For me, he was the greatest defender in history,” he said.
Inzaghi also reflected on the reception he received in Australia, and on the 2007 Athens final where he scored twice, a night Milan nodded to on the back of this year's away shirt with the line “After Istanbul, there's always Athens.” As he put it, “I was injured in Istanbul, so fate truly gave me a second chance.”
The wider point Inzaghi returned to was Italy's need for a centre-forward to lead the scoring charts again, naming Gianluca Scamacca as his pick for a breakthrough season and reeling off Raspadori, Pio Esposito, Camarda, Kean and Cutrone as the forwards he rates.
For Milan fans, the endorsement carries a certain weight given who is giving it, but the €75m question is whether Ramos can do at San Siro what he did in Lisbon. That answer starts when the season does.