‘A couple of times’- AC Milan boss Pioli reveals why he lured Samuel Chukwueze to San Siro

Samuel Chukwueze recently completed a £28m move from Villarreal to seven-time European champions AC Milan on a five-year contract

AC Milan manager, Stefano Pioli says he is anticipating to work with Nigeria’s Samuel Chukwueze following the completion of the 24-year-old’s transfer to the Italian club, Soccernet.ng reports

Chukwueze completed a sensational move to the seven-time European champions from Villarreal on a five-year contract this week, following weeks of negotiations over a transfer fee between the two clubs.

The Italian giants identified the Nigerian as part of their plans for the coming seasons and saw an initial £20m bid rejected by Villarreal, before both clubs later agreed on a £28m transfer fee for the player.

He arrived as Milan’s seventh signing in this transfer window, following the arrival of Christain Pulisic, Tijjani Reijnders, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Noah Okafor, Luka Romero and Marco Sportiello, as they are working on rebuilding their squad ahead of the new season.

Chukwueze registered 13 goals and 11 assists in 50 games for Villarreal last season, and was ranked fifth with 76 successful dribbles in Europe’s top five leagues.

Speaking after their defeat to rivals Juventus in a pre-season game in the United States, AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli claimed that the 24-year-old has all the attributes he is looking for in a new winger and labelled the Nigerian as a “complete winger” as quoted by calciomercato.com

We had spoken to each other a couple of times, we were looking for a player with these characteristics. He’s fast, technical, strong in one-on-one situations and attacks deep. He seems like a complete winger to me, Pioli said

Milan could have the first taste of the Nigerian winger in action when they take on Spanish giants Barcelona in another pre-season game on the 2nd of August.