How Pulisic and Milan's 2023/24 signings have been a roaring success | OneFootball

This season, AC Milan have so far scored 77 goals in all competitions.

In Serie A, the Rossoneri have netted 55 times, making them the second-most potent attacking force in the division.

And it is the players signed by the club in the summer of 2023 who have chipped in with the lion’s share of those goals, scoring a total of 40 and providing 18 assists to boot.

Those goals are broken down like so: Christian Pulisic 12, Ruben Loftus-Cheek nine, Luka Jović eight, Noah Okafor five, with Tijjani Reijnders and Samuel Chukwueze bagging three each.

When it comes to assists, there have been 58 G/A contributions this season from players acquired in the summer of 2023, meaning that 75.3% of the goals scored by Milan this season have involved (the goal itself or the assist) a new arrival.

Moreover, with the goal from Chukwueze against Hellas Verona, Milan have scored 14 goals with players off the bench. In the top five European leagues, no other side has done better (Leipzig 12, Brighton 12, Newcastle 11, Arsenal 11, Barcelona 11, Liverpool 11).

With the 40 goals scored by arrivals in the 2023 summer window, AC Milan has beaten the record of goals scored by new acquisitions under coach Stefano Pioli: previously it was the 2019/2020 season, which brought 38 goals.

Last season (2022/23), the market brought about just five goals: two from Divock Origi, who arrived from Liverpool, and three from Tommaso Pobega, a player already owned by Milan who had returned from a loan-season at Torino FC.

Pulisic’s special season

Christian Pulisic is already one of the best attacking right wingers to have played for AC Milan in the last 10 years. With 12 goals scored between the league and cups, the United States international has already done better than his predecessors in this area:

Pulisic has scored nine goals in Serie A and 3 in Europe: one in the Champions League against Newcastle, and two in the Europa League against Slavia Praha.

With his goals (12) and assists (eight), the 25-year-old has reached a tally of 20 Goal/Assist contributions in his first season with the Rossoneri.

Okafor and Jović

These are Milan’s backup strikers, with 13 goals scored between the two this season: eight by Jović and five by Okafor.

Both Jović and Okafor have scored four goals from the bench this Serie A season: they are the two highest-scoring substitutes in the league so far this season (together with Lautaro Martínez). AC Milan are the only side to boast two players with at least four goals scored after coming off the bench this season in the top five European leagues.

Chukwueze

Chukwueze is Milan’s top goalscorer in the Champions League with two goals, scored against Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle.

His goal came in the 2-1 win over Newcastle, a decisive result for AC Milan to secure third spot in the Champions League “group of death” (behind Borussia Dortmund and PSG now both in the Champions League quarter-finals) and win qualification to the Europa League. There, AC Milan survived the playoffs and the round of 16 (against Stade Rennais and Slavia Praha) and will face Roma in the quarter-finals (the first time in history that AC Milan have made it to the Europa League quarter-finals).

Reijnders

The Dutch midfielder, has picked up the most playtime of all the AC Milan acquisitions in the summer window. With over 3000 minutes played, he is the second most present player at AC Milan, behind Theo Hernandez (third if we also consider the goalkeeper, Maignan).

Not only quantity but also quality, with three goals and three assists and several plays that astounded Rossoneri fans.

With his performances at AC Milan, Reijnders also received his first call-ups and debut for the Dutch National team: six appearances from September 2023 to today (he was also called up by the head coach, Ronald Koeman, for the Netherlands’ first games against Scotland and Germany).

Loftus-Cheek

The 28-year-old Englishman, arriving from Chelsea in the summer, totalled 33 appearances for the Blues last season without scoring and providing two assists. This season, on the other hand, he has scored nine goals and provided two assists in 34 appearances. This is so far the second-best season in his career: in 2018/29, he picked up 40 appearances for Chelsea with 10 goals and five assists, also winning the Europa League that season with the club.

Loftus-Cheek is having a great 2024, with eight goals scored since January, four of which have been in the Europa League.

Musah

The midfielder, born in the USA in 2002, has set himself apart for his dynamism and ability to adapt to various positions on the pitch. In his first season at AC Milan, he has been played as a central midfielder and an inside forward, as a winger and as a right-back. He has played 32 games for the Rossoneri, starting 15 of them. He hasn’t scored for AC Milan yet, but he provided a decisive assist for the Rossoneri win over Genoa, with the goalscorer being fellow USMNT player Christian Pulisic.