Milan legend Paolo Maldini explains why he knew that he had to bring Theo Hernandez to San Siro. ‘I saw in him the modern idea of a full-back.’
The France international is now preparing for the World Cup in Qatar, earning his place in the Bleus squad thanks to those performances at club level, which saw him win the Serie A title and progress to the Champions League Round of 16.
Speaking to Milan TV, director Maldini was asked if he thought Theo Hernandez could surpass his goal-scoring tally in the Milan jersey.
“If he plays just a third of my games, he’ll still surpass me! I was never exactly a hitman,” said Maldini.
The legend scored 33 goals and provided 43 assists in 903 competitive matches with the Milan jersey.
After 140 games for the Rossoneri, Theo Hernandez already has 22 goals and 27 assists.
“I’d be very happy if Theo were to score more goals than me for Milan, as I’d celebrate every goal. Theo is a very unusual full-back, as he is still certainly a full-back, but nobody else does what he does, especially in his attacking, the way he cuts inside and the finishing.
“I saw in him the modern idea of a full-back. Especially in the first season, it seemed as if he’d wait until the 70th minute to make these incredible sprints, especially with his precision in finishing after running 70 metres with the ball at his feet.”
Theo Hernandez has confirmed many times that he could not say no to Milan once his hero Maldini had spoken to him personally.
The left-back put pen to paper on a €22.8m transfer from Real Madrid in the summer of 2019 and recently extended his contract with the Rossoneri to 2026.