Leonardo: 'Don't compare Lucas Paquetá to Kaka' | OneFootball

On Tuesday, Milan sporting director Leonardo responded to many questions after presenting Lucas Paquetá to the Milan media.

Paquetá officially joined Milan in a €35m deal from Brazilian side Flamengo after agreeing to terms in October.

“Lucas is not a player still to be discovered, as was the case with Thiago Silva, Kaká, and [Alexandre] Pato.

“He joins from a team that finished second in the Brazilian league, while he’s also played for the Brazil National Team.

“We now have to pair his skills up with our project. He has important qualities as both a person and player, while he also still has remarkable potential to grow.

“In general, he’s a player that can bring an element of attacking football.”

Leonardo then told the press that comparing the 21-year-old to fellow Brazilian and 2006 Ballon d’Or winner Kaká would be unfair.

“We must not compare Lucas to Kaká as the context is different.

“That AC Milan era had a different type of team, made up of extraordinary players such as Paolo Maldini – those who were used to pressure.

“We’re now in a different phase with a side that is still under construction.”

Despite an eye-watering €35m fee to secure his services, Leonardo doesn’t believe Paquetá’s signing represents a huge risk.

“I don’t think that it’s a risk. It was an investment, true, but we knew the lad’s worth. He is young but he’s already shown his qualities.

“We are very confident that he can also demonstrate them in an AC Milan shirt. There will be no other investments equally as important.”

Finally, Leonardo went on to say that Paquetá will be available for this weekend’s Copa Italia round-of-16 clash at Sampdoria in addition to the Italian Supercoppa against Juventus next Wednesday in Saudi Arabia.

“Lucas is available, as are all of the others. He arrived in December and spent some days with the team. That was key.”