Romano reveals why Nkunku was hurt by Milan exit: “He believed he could help”

Fabrizio Romano has revealed more of the background regarding Christopher Nkunku’s exit, including why he was so surprised.

Nkunku had a debut campaign with more downs than ups following his move from Chelsea for €42m. Having racked up seven goals and with the change to a more attack-minded manager, it was instantly presumed he would stay at least for another season.

Yet, Ruben Amorim made it clear from quite early on in his tenure that he did not see a place for the Frenchman in his plans. So, Nkunku was part of the excluded list along with Fikayo Tomori, Youssouf Fofana and Santiago Gimenez.

Eventually, Nkunku secured a return to RB Leipzig on a loan with option to buy deal, the club where he has played the best football in his career so far. On his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano shed some light on how things materialised, and why the player admitted he was surprised.

“These are two different stories that were handled differently because while Fofana understood quite quickly that there would be no room for them to move forward together at AC Milan, Nkunku, with the statements released in the last few hours, has made it known that he didn’t expect the Rossoneri club to throw him out in that way,” he said (via MilanNews).

“Having arrived at AC Milan a year ago, the Frenchman hoped to have another chance. Why all the surprise? From what I’ve been told, he believed he could help in various roles in Amorim’s new system, both as Gonçalo Ramos’ deputy and as an attacking midfielder behind the centre-forward.

“Nkunku thought he had ended up in the right system and at the right club, but Milan made other decisions, fully agreed upon by the management and the coach, and that’s how his departure came about.”