{"id":1154543,"date":"2023-04-18T19:30:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T18:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1154543"},"modified":"2023-04-18T19:37:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T18:37:46","slug":"forgotten-ac-milan-players","status":"publish","type":"cult-corner","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/cult-corner\/forgotten-ac-milan-players\/","title":{"rendered":"14 players you (probably) forgot played for AC Milan"},"content":{"rendered":"

AC Milan are one of football’s greatest ever clubs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They have won the European Cup more times than anyone bar Real Madrid (seven), they revolutionised the game back in the late 80s and have graced us with some of the finest players and teams to ever compete. Everyone knows them and unless you’re an Interisti<\/em>, you have at least a passing appreciation of the Rossoneri<\/em> and all their great players.<\/p>\n

But what about their not-so-great players? To be clear, we don’t mean the lesser-talented Milan players, but great players who were so bland during their time at the San Siro that you had forgotten about it entirely? We’ve compiled a list of 14 famous names that you have probably forgotten once played for AC Milan.<\/p>\n

1. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Milan era:<\/strong> 2007-2011
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 0<\/p>\n

We start our list of 14 with Chelsea’s No.9, or No.41 as he was for Milan. The Italians signed Aubameyang when he was still a teenager and brought him through their Primavera side. Auba never even played a game for the Rossoneri<\/em> as he spent the next three-and-a-half seasons out on loan at various clubs before being sold to Saint-Etienne midway through 2010\/11, but he was on their books and they had high hopes for him. Hopes that in the end were proven correct, as he shone for Saint-Etienne, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Barcelona. He is now turning out (with less success) for Chelsea.<\/p>\n

2. Sokratis<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Milan era:<\/strong> 2010-2012
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 7<\/p>\n

We continue the Arsenal connection and move to Aubameyang’s former team-mate at both Dortmund and in north London. Sokratis spent one season in Serie A and was part of Milan’s never-ending search to find an heir to Alessandro Nesta. Sokratis played just a handful of times in red and black but had the good fortune of doing so in the Rossoneri<\/em>‘s last title-winning season.<\/p>\n

3. Leonardo Bonucci<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Milan era:<\/strong> 2017-2018
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 51<\/p>\n

You’d probably forgotten all about this, right? Leonardo Bonucci was the pillar of a Juventus team that was conquering all before them in Serie A, but the defender had fallen out with his coach and needed a change of scenery. Milan came calling and Bonucci was to be the leader of their new revolution. Yet the Rossoneri<\/em> were such miserable drips that season that even Bonucci didn’t defend well. In the end, he spent just one season in Milan before running back to the comfort of Juventus and their annual title wins.<\/p>\n

4. Fabricio Coloccini<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Milan era:<\/strong> 1999-2004
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 5<\/p>\n

Fabricio Coloccini was viewed as the next great Argentine defender and Milan used a loophole in the rules to sign him without agreeing a deal with Boca Juniors. He was just 17 at the time and so spent the next half-decade out on loan before finally playing one season for Milan in the ill-fated 2004\/05 campaign, where Milan were great but won nothing. He only played five times, and since became so associated with Deportivo de la Coruna and Newcastle United that you’d be forgiven for forgetting his time as a Milan player.<\/p>\n

5. Martin Laursen<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Milan era:<\/strong> 2001-2004
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 82<\/p>\n

Before he was the pillar of Aston Villa’s defence, Martin Laursen played for Milan. He did so during the start of the Carlo Ancelotti era and managed to pick up a Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League while at the club. But he was never a starter and in the end, Laursen moved to the Midlands. There, he became such a colossal and iconic figure that his time in Milan has been forgotten.<\/p>\n\n

6. Lucas Ocampos<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Milan era:<\/strong> 2016-17
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 12<\/p>\n

Nobody was that excited when Sevilla signed Lucas Ocampos in 2019 but they should’ve been, because in the 2019\/20 season he was the only player in La Liga to both score a goal and<\/em> save one.<\/p>\n

He also went on to be the fulcrum of the Sevilla side which secured yet another Europa League title. There was little to suggest this 17-goal campaign was on the cards for Ocampos across his loan spell with Milan in 2016\/17. The Argentinian winger didn’t score once, Milan finished sixth and he returned him to Marseille the next summer.<\/p>\n

7. Mathieu Flamini<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Milan era:<\/strong> 2008-2013
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 123<\/p>\n

They say “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” and Milan kind of took this lesson to heart after Flamini swallowed Kaka up in the 2008 Champions League, enabling a huge Arsenal win there. That very summer, Flamini signed for the Rossoneri<\/em>, where he played for an astonishing five seasons and racked up over 100 appearances. Yet no one remembers his time there. Probably because he left to come right back to Arsenal and reaffirm his connection to them. And now he’s a pharmaceutical executive helping to bring about the mass-engineering of biofuels.<\/p>\n

What a guy.<\/p>\n

8. Michael Essien<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Milan era:<\/strong> 2013-2014
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 22<\/p>\n

If you had to associate mighty Michael Essien with three teams, you’d pick Chelsea, Lyon and Ghana. If pressed for a fourth you’d come up with that weird season on loan with Real Madrid and a fifth you’d either come up short or go all Ligue 1-nerd on everyone and mention Bastia. What you wouldn’t do is mention the two seasons he spent playing for Milan. Well, “playing,” really, as he racked up just 22 appearances in a spell people don’t even remember happening.<\/p>\n

9. Sulley Muntari<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Milan era:<\/strong> 2012-2015
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 83<\/p>\n

Similarly to his compatriot, Muntari has had iconic spells at other clubs. Udinese, Inter, Portsmouth. And of course, he excelled with Ghana too, especially at the 2010 World Cup. But if pressed, would you remember his three-year spell with Milan? He joined them a season after playing for Sunderland and despite impressing on loan enough for them to buy him, was so underwhelming in the subsequent two years that he left with little fanfare to Ittihad FC in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

10. Gianluca Zambrotta<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Milan era:<\/strong> 2008-2012
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 102<\/p>\n

Zambrotta was Philipp Lahm before Philipp Lahm was Philipp Lahm. A right-back who made his name at left-back for a gargantuan club. In his case, it was Juventus. Zambrotta was phenomenal for the Old Lady<\/em>, and probably would have stayed there his whole career but for the Calciopoli scandal relegating Juve. After that, Zambrotta joined Barcelona, where he was intensely underwhelming. And for most, that’s where his story ends. But no! Zambrotta left Barcelona for Milan and played there for four seasons. Unfortunately for him, most of them were underwhelming and injury ruined the one great season where the Rossoneri<\/em> won Serie A. In the end, he was let go by Milan in 2012 and played out his career with Swiss side Chiasso.<\/p>\n

11. Yoann Gourcuff<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Milan era:<\/strong> 2006-2008
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 54<\/p>\n

Yoann Gourcuff was one of the hottest prospects in Europe when he joined Milan in 2006. This kid was going to be the heir to Clarence Seedorf and the midfield maestro to help take Milan to the next level. Turns out he ended up playing second-fiddle to Kaka, whose monster season dwarfed everything else. He didn’t do much better in his second season and was shipped off to Bordeaux, where he immediately re-found his form and played superbly. Injuries and poor form then basically swallowed up the rest of his career, but when he is remembered, it is in those early days for Rennes or his renaissance at Bordeaux. No one remembers his misery in Milan.<\/p>\n

12. Gerard Deulofeu<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Milan era:<\/strong> 2017
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 18<\/p>\n

Deulofeu was a Barcelona flop who then found new success playing for Everton. He joined Milan on loan from Everton after new manager Ronald Koeman didn’t want him, and much to everyone’s surprise was brilliant<\/em> in red and black. So much so that Barcelona executed their buy-back clause on him. Unfortunately, that was simply the cycle starting over again, as he was poor for the Blaugrana<\/em> before redeeming himself with Watford in the Premier League. After the Hornets<\/em> were relegated, he returned to Italy with Udinese. So there are the four clubs you associate him with, and none of them are Milan.<\/p>\n

13. Fernando Torres<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Milan era:<\/strong> 2014
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 10<\/p>\n

Like Deulofeu, Torres only spent half a season in Milan. Unlike Deulofeu, however, it was a pretty dismal affair. El Ni\u00f1o was fresh off a spell at Chelsea where he played terribly yet somehow won three trophies in two seasons and perhaps Milan were hoping he could work that mojo on them. No such luck, and his loan was terminated midway through the season so he could return home to Atletico Madrid and banish all the memories of those miserable months in Milan.<\/p>\n

14. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Milan era:<\/strong> 2009-2010
\nMilan appearances:<\/strong> 30<\/p>\n

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has represented some big clubs in his career, and the likes of Ajax, Schalke and Real Madrid will often stick in people’s mind – the former two due to his longevity. But he also spent one season at AC Milan between Real Madrid and Schalke, just six months after initially joining Los Blancos<\/em>. In his sole season for AC Milan, the Dutch striker scored seven goals goals, all of which came in Serie A as the Rossoneri<\/em> finished third.<\/p>\n

Honourable mentions:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Asmir Begovic, Alessio Cerci, Bojan Krkic, Phillip Senderos, Christian Vieri, Fernando Redondo, Taribo West<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n