Theo Hernandez got his third goal of 2024 during the win over Hellas Verona yesterday, and all of a sudden he has his idol Paolo Maldini well within range.
As MilanNews writes, many things have happened since that meeting in Ibiza between Theo Hernandez and Paolo Maldini in the summer of 2019. The then-director flew out to the island to meet Theo and convince him to try a new adventure in Italy, and he has never looked back.
Five years on, we can say that Maldini’s decision to pursue Theo so aggressively – despite some doubts from the scouting and analytics department – has paid off. The left-back is not only about one of the leaders of this Milan, but above all of one of the strongest players in the world in his role.
The hope of all the Milan fans is that the Frenchman will continue to wear the red and shirt for a long time to come amid the links with Bayern Munich, and that he could become a player that enters the ‘legends’ section of the history books.
The goal he scored yesterday against Verona was in fact Theo Hernandez’s 27th in a Milan shirt and that puts him level with Aldo Maldera in second place among the defenders who have scored the most for Milan.
In first place is Paolo Maldini with 29 goal, a gap that can even be overhauled by the end of the season if Theo continues the incredible performance levels that he has done sine the start of 2024.
The former Real Madrid man will most likely equal and overtake Maldini’s record in the next few months having played not even half of his games. In fact, Hernandez has scored a goal every 502 minutes on average, practically one every five games.
This calendar year, Theo has contributed to 11 goals for Milan with three being goals and eight being assists. Not bad for a defender, capable of doing even better than players like Lautaro Martinez (9 G/A), Kvaratskhelia (6 G/A), Lukaku (6 G/A) and Osimhen (6 G/A).
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