CM: Noa Lang helps PSV down Juventus – the background on when he was ‘close to Milan’ | OneFootball

When Noa Lang was inspiring PSV Eindhoven to victory over Juventus, AC Milan fans might have remembered the name from previous transfer links.

Calciomercato.com write how Lang made the difference in the two legs, slicing the Juventus defence open on multiple occasions and then increasing the regret of the clubs in Italy who did not do enough to buy him in the recent past.

The numbers speak for themselves: eight assists and five goals in the current Eredivisie, one goal and two assists in the Champions League. He is an old-school winger who can make the difference if put in the best position, aiming to get in isolation and beat the defender.

The head coach Peter Bosz freed him from defensive duties because he only wants him to unleash his talent in the opposition’s half. The Dutch coach opposed his sale in January when Napoli had tempted PSV with a verbal offer of €25m, double the amount paid by PSV to sign him from Club Brugge.

Napoli were not the only one who was interested in PSV’s number 10. In the summer of 2022, Lang was ‘close to Milan’ when Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara were convinced that he could make a big difference in Serie A.

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They scouted Lang on multiple occasions and they were struck by the relationship that blossomed between the Dutchman and Charles De Ketelaere. The scouts, however, preferred to focus on De Ketelaere because he was a less problematic profile from a character point of view.

It was a choice that then led to a high price being paid given that CDK’s failure was one of the reasons cited for the sacking of Maldini and Massara in 2023, just 12 months after the 19th Scudetto in Milan’s history.