Yunus Musah at AC Milan: How USMNT star fits in with Serie A Club and where he can excel

Yunus Musah is a new AC Milan player after the U.S. men’s national team star became the second American on the roster after the arrival of Christian Pulisic from Chelsea this summer. The Rossoneri signed Musah after agreeing with Valencia a fee of around €20 million, add-ons included. AC Milan announced the signing of Musah on Friday and the player decided to wear the jersey number 80, as his childhood idol Ronaldinho did when he played for the Italian giants.  

AC Milan needed a player like Musah, a young midfielder that can give coach Stefano Pioli multiple tactical options in that part of the pitch. Musah made his first steps as a young footballer in the north of Italy, where he moved a few months after he was born in New York. When he was ten his family moved to London where he started to play for the academy of Arsenal. Despite playing for the Gunners young teams for over seven years, he never made his professional debut with the English side and signed for Valencia in the summer 2019. 

In his first season in Spain, he played for the B team of Valencia in the second division, but the season after he immediately became a key player with then-coach Javi Garcia. Valencia went through some difficult seasons, with multiple coaches, but Musah was always an important part, despite all the changes. Last season, he played 37 games in all competitions, scoring two goals, typically playing on the outside of the midfield.

AC Milan will likely play with the 4-3-3 in the upcoming season, as the Rossoneri already tried in the first pre-season games against Juventus and Real Madrid, with the possibility to switch back to the 4-2-3-1 as they played in the past three years under Pioli. In the three-line midfield, Musah can play as a central midfielder and also as a right-central midfielder.

The Rossoneri signed midfielders Ruben Loftus-Cheek from Chelsea, Tijjani Reijnders from Feyenoord and Musah this summer, adding the midfielders to a list with Ismael Bennacer, Tommas Pobega and Rade Krunic. Despite Sandro Tonali leaving AC Milan to join Newcastle, Pioli’s roster looks much more complete in the midfield and can allow rotation and adjustments.

Despite the young age of 21, Musah has impressed by the fact he already played 108 games with Valencia in his first three years as a professional soccer player. Musah has also played 24 games with the USMNT, including four games at the 2022 World Cup where he was a starter for the team coached by Gregg Berhalter. 

Looking at his skills and characteristics, Musah is probably more the natural replacement of a player like Franck Kessie rather than Sandro Tonali. Kessie was one of the most dominant midfielders in recent years at the club, where he won the 2021-22 Serie A title before leaving as a free agent to join FC Barcelona. AC Milan missed a lot Kessie in the past season, as Pioli tried to make some changes that worked but couldn’t fully cope the absence of a key player like him. Musah potentially can fill that kind of lack, but he will probably need some time to adapt to the Italian league and his new team. If he does it quickly, we could see him shine quite soon in the Italian league.