GdS: Why Fonseca picking Theo’s replacement is the ‘strangest battle of the year’ | OneFootball

Theo Hernandez’s suspension for the next two games in Serie A has left Paulo Fonseca with a difficult decision to make regarding who will fill in at left-back against Udinese on Saturday.

La Gazzetta dello Sport have a piece titled: ‘Welcome to the strangest battle of the year’. It pits Terracciano – who has just 165 minutes played in Serie A in 2024 – against Alex Jimenez, who has zero appearances this season.

Theo’s red card at the end of Fiorentina-Milan leaves collateral effects: Fonseca at this critical moment will not have his starting left-back for the next two games and upon the resumption of Serie A action he will have to rely on one of two players who have barely played.

In the first game of the season Fonseca even preferred to play Alexis Saelemaekers out of position and it went badly, while Terracciano started away against Lazio when Theo and Rafael Leao were both on the bench, offering not many encouraging signs.

The differences between the two candidates is clear: Jimenez is two years younger (he was born in 2005, Terracciano in 2003) and this season he has only played with Milan Futuro in Serie C.

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The Spaniard is a more attacking player but has played more on the right, his preferred side given that he is right-footed, while the Italian has played a variety of roles and has more Serie A experience.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his thoughts clear in July: “Theo Hernandez’s deputy will be Alex Jimenez and if he doesn’t play in the first team he will play in Milan Futuro. Taking Theo’s place doesn’t seem easy to me, Alex has time to grow and we want to give him minutes for this.”

However, Fonseca is the coach and he will have the final say. So far it seems Terracciano is a step ahead but in the future they will both have chances, given that Milan paid €5m to sign Jimenez from Real Madrid in the summer after a successful loan.