From expendable to immovable – Gabbia’s strange journey since July

It has been a strange season for Matteo Gabbia so far, who now finds himself as an immovable starter at AC Milan after being told that he could leave a few months ago.

This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recalls that Gabbia was destined to play this season elsewhere as of the beginning of July, while on the last day of February he is preparing to start tomorrow’s match against Lazio.

Gabbia has experienced some rather peculiar months in between. When Milan sent him on loan to Villarreal, the Italian had Malick Thiaw, Fikayo Tomori, Pierre Kalulu and Simon Kjaer in front of him, which is why a loan was deemed the best solution.

Now, he is truly irreplaceable and tomorrow he will start alongside Thiaw in the capital, while waiting for Tomori and Kalulu to get back to their best after lengthy periods of absence due to injury.

The key concept is trust: Gabbia now feels it and is responding with quality performances. Pioli has always followed a principle: whoever plays well, if the performance levels remain high, will keep their place.

The Primavera graduate struggled one-on-one situations and since returning from Spain he has produced a number of decisive interventions. If you can make your weakness become a strength, you’ve made a breakthrough. At least for now.