Tomorrow evening at 20:45, San Siro will host the city derby. For Amorim, the choice in attack should be the easiest of the season: Gonçalo Ramos must start from the first minute. Not out of blind faith, but because Milan cannot afford to leave their centre-forward on the bench for the most important match.
The numbers, there is no point going around in circles, do not do justice to the investment. The Portuguese striker cost €74 million plus bonuses, a record fee for the Rossoneri's finances. So far, however, he has managed just three goals in ten appearances across Serie A and the Europa League. In the league, his goals total only two, one of them from the penalty spot.
Worse still, his last two appearances tell the story of a striker far from goal: just one shot on target against Udinese and none against Bologna, on the night San Siro saw Milan fall for the first time in the league this season. These are figures that fuel the usual ghost, that of the curse of the number 9 shirt, as pointed out via Milan Press.
Yet reducing Ramos to a goal-scoring machine would be a mistake...
In September, the data identified him as the striker who covered the most ground in Serie A, a sign of the work he does for the team, which does not show up in the statistics but can be seen. He has also shown that he knows how to get himself going again: his goal against Salzburg ended a European goal drought that had lasted since autumn 2025. He is a centre-forward who needs a spark rather than a revolution.
The derby could be that spark. Ramos knows what it means to be a protagonist in a city derby: in Lisbon, wearing the Benfica shirt, he scored a brace against Amorim's Sporting. His first derby in the Rossoneri shirt, on the other hand, was only half-experienced: in the friendly in Perth, which ended 1-1, he came on during the match. This time, he needs a proper debut, with the entire match ahead of him and the crowd behind him. It is also the perfect match for him to get off the mark, given that their cousins, despite their position at the top of Serie A, are also struggling defensively. They have conceded 10 goals in the league and have often found themselves trailing, as against Napoli, Udinese, Roma, Bologna and Fiorentina.
From a physical perspective, the picture is reassuring: following the calf problem, the MRI scan came back negative on the eve of the match lost against Bologna, and the Portuguese striker should be available for the city derby. The issue of workload remains, however, as he started eight of the first nine matches, playing more than 1,000 minutes for club and country. Amorim will have to manage him, but the derby is not the match in which to rotate.
At the pre-match press conference, Amorim gave the number 9 a boost by placing his full trust in him. "He has already shown that he can change a match at any moment and that he can score in any situation," the Portuguese coach said. Furthermore, he also delivered a 'reprimand' to the team: "We have to push our defensive line and the team higher up the pitch, spend more time in that area of the field to allow Ramos to play his game. He is playing far from goal because the team cannot push the opposition back into the final thirty metres."
A goal against Inter would not erase the doubts, but it could change the story of a season that has got off to a difficult start for Ramos. Scoring in the most eagerly anticipated match would be worth more than scoring against another team: it would take the pressure off, restore his confidence and show San Siro that the investment makes sense. Milan need Ramos to score against Inter if they are to hope that this can be the first of many more goals between now and May.
