Milan fans will have very different receptions for Sandro Tonali and Gianluigi Donnarumma when they return to San Siro in the Champions League representing Newcastle United and PSG.
The draw for the group phase of the tournament was effectively a nightmare for the Rossoneri, the closest thing to a Group of Death in the competition with Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and the wild card Newcastle.
It also raised eyebrows for the reunions with their former players, but Tonali and Donnarumma are likely to receive very different welcomes when stepping back into the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
Donnarumma is still hated by a large section of the supporters, who saw his decision to walk away as a free agent by letting the contract run down as a bitter betrayal of the club that launched his career.
He was just a 16-year-old kid when plucked from the Primavera youth team to make his Serie A debut, nurtured through tough periods to become Italy’s first-choice shot-stopper and the most valuable player at the club.
To see him leave without giving Milan a penny was humiliating and insulting, especially as it was a year before the club went on to win the Scudetto, then the next season they went farther in the Champions League than PSG.
Nicknamed ‘Dollarumma’ for chasing the money to Paris, he already experienced the hostile atmosphere when Italy played a qualifier at San Siro and he was jeered relentlessly by the local fans, even though he was representing the whole country at the time.
It’s safe to say the boos will be absolutely deafening when Donnarumma plays here for PSG against Milan.
On the other hand, Tonali left in very different circumstances for Newcastle United.
He was a club record sale at €80m including add-ons and by his own admission would gladly have remained with the Rossoneri, the club he has supported since childhood.
The Milan hierarchy effectively pushed him out of the door and used that money to fund the entire overhaul of the squad with nine new signings.
Tonali remained absolutely respectful at all times of the fans, who instead pinned the blame fully on the new directors for this decision, just days after Paolo Maldini had been sacked.
It is also notable that Newcastle United are not considered rivals to Milan, it is a new and different experience in the Premier League.
That is not seen as a more ambitious switch, nor purely about the money, but rather an adventure in a highly-competitive division.
milanisti are salty
Really Peter. Why should we show anything but disregard to Dollarumma?! Him and his agent lead the club on and ran for the money the moment an offer came in. He’ll never be welcome back to the San Siro by Milanista.