More than a goal, it was a message to Massimiliano Allegri. On Monday night, Christopher Nkunku started for France in Iceland and found the net, even though Deschamps’ team only managed a 2-2 draw against Gudmundsson and company.
The former Chelsea forward confirmed a pattern: when he starts, he scores. It happened for the national team, and it happened at Milan, where in the only game Allegri started him, Nkunku scored his first goal for the club, against Lecce in the Coppa Italia.
Now, 'Christo' hopes to repeat that on Sunday, convincing Allegri to trust him for the first time in Serie A against Fiorentina, helped by the late return of Santiago Gimenez and Leao’s still uncertain fitness.
As Adrien Rabiot told La Gazzetta dello Sport, Nkunku arrived at Milan clearly short of fitness. His season with Chelsea had ended only on July 13, with the Club World Cup final win over PSG. After his vacation, he never trained with the rest of the squad, knowing he was set to leave in the summer window.
Once he arrived at Milanello, Allegri immediately appreciated his technical qualities, but everyone knew Nkunku would need time and work to regain full condition. Gradually he has improved, though when coming off the bench against Udinese and Juventus, he didn’t have the expected impact. That’s why Allegri might now switch things up, giving the former Chelsea man his chance against Fiorentina.
When play resumes, Milan will have four Serie A games in two weeks. It makes sense for Allegri to rotate his attack, managing energy game by game. Who will start against Fiorentina? Leao was the first to return to Milanello, Gimenez and Pulisic ( the American was injued with the national team in the friendly against Australia) the last, while Nkunku is boosted by his goal for France. In the future, Allegri might even test a three-man attack, giving more space to his forwards. Nkunku, who can play anywhere across the front line, is ready and eager.
