"We started the season with lots of ambition and gave everything for our team, staff and fans every day, but things didn't go as we wished for on the pitch this season. No pity or excuses. God is the best of planners and we are all living proof of that. We will be stronger."
Yunus Musah bid farewell to the 2024/25 season with an apologetic Instagram post to the millions of AC Milan fans who were left disappointed after a campaign that saw them finish eighth and miss out on European football entirely. Having planned on reaching the UEFA Champions League, it is undeniable that the lack of European revenue could force the Rossoneri into selling a number of key players this summer.
Milan's left-wing duo of Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao look headed for the exit door, as does Tijjani Reijnders, who was voted as the Best Midfielder of the Season in Serie A. Malick Thiaw, Samuel Chukwueze and Ruben Loftus-Cheek also failed to convince this season and could be set for departures, whilst Yunus Musah might very well be on the list of departures.
Born in New York City to Ghanaian parents, Musah developed at Arsenal's Hale End academy and played for England's youth teams before making the one-time switch to the United States in 2020. Since then, he's been able to flourish under a number of national team managers like Gregg Berhalter, Anthony Hudson and Mauricio Pochettino, winning the Concacaf Nations League in 2021 and 2023 and being named the 2022 U.S. Soccer Young Player of the Year.
After making the move to Valencia in 2020, Musah featured in 94 league appearances for Los Che and excelled in a number of midfield roles for the Spanish side. Regarded as one of the best young talents in the division by various LaLiga pundits like Derek Rae and Sid Lowe, Musah quickly earned the attention of various top European sides, with Milan eventually signing him in June 2023 for 20 million euros.
Choosing the #80 in honor of Ronaldinho, Musah made 30 league appearances across the 2023/24 season under Stefano Pioli but never quite managed to lock down a place in the starting line-up. He's featured regularly in the 2024/25 season under Paulo Fonseca and Sergio Conceicao, but he hasn't quite managed to convince of his merits.
At 22 years old, it's evident that Musah still has plenty of maturation to go through. He struggles to turn out of pressure and can be a bit slow in terms of progressing the ball into the final third, while his poor decision-making has come to the fore both in terms of him weighing up passing choices as well as making ill-advised challenges. Ultimately, it seems that he still lacks the footballing intelligence needed to excel at the top level.
Musah has not quite managed to live up to his expectations at San Siro, and when he played in Milan's final match of the campaign vs. Monza, he was mercilessly booed by the Rossoneri fanbase with every touch of the ball. It is evident that these underwhelming displays have taken a toll on his confidence and prevented him from getting the most out of his abilities.
The future is still bright for Musah, and there's every reason that he has what it takes to follow in the footsteps of Landon Donovan and Herculez Gomez and thrive for the US Men's National Team. However, for the sake of his own career development, he may be best suited to depart Milan this summer and start fresh with a brand new team in 2025/26.
Should Milan part ways with Musah this summer, or should they continue trusting in the process? Stay tuned for what promises to be a lengthy squad makeover.
