GdS: Montolivo, Romagnoli and now Calabria – Milan’s armband no longer sacred | OneFootball

The captain’s armband has been far from sacred at AC Milan in recent years and as highlighted by Gazzetta dello Sport, there could be further proof of this in the summer. From Riccardo Montolivo to Alessio Romagnoli and now potentially Davide Calabria.

As pointed out by the pink newspaper, from 1982 to 2013, Milan had just three (!) captains: Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini and Massimo Ambrosini. Three players who were true pillars of their respective sides and never struggled to get a starting spot, unless for injuries.

The latest tradition is completely the opposite, though, as there have been several captains since Ambrosini decided to hang up his boots. From 2013 to 2017, the armband belonged to Riccardo Montolivo and his spell at the club was tainted by injuries as well as poor performances.

Or rather, after he broke his leg ahead of the World Cup in 2014, he never managed to return to his peak. At the end of his tenure at the club, he was left completely out of the squad by Gennaro Gattuso and this is something he has reflected on recently.

Then, after Montolivo, the captain’s armband was handed to Leonardo Bonucci who had only just joined from Juventus – and clearly did so out of spite looking back. He only played one season with the club before re-joining the Bianconeri, so giving him the armband was a shocking decision in retrospect.

Finally, Milan managed to get some consistency as Alessio Romagnoli took over the armband. He made 247 appearances in total for the club and when he received the armband, he had been there for three years.

Following the trend, however, his last season was ruined by injuries and Pierre Kalulu leapfrogging him in the pecking order. While he was a great professional and did get to lift the Scudetto in the end, deservedly so, he left on a free transfer.

Fast forward to today, Davide Calabria is still the captain of the team but has only made a few appearances this season, due to injuries and Emerson Royal being the preferred choice. With his contract expiring in 2025, he’s expected to leave for free just like Romagnoli, once again continuing the trend.

Seeing as Fonseca has been very liberal with the captain’s armband, the trend might not change any time soon. It would probably take someone like Sandro Tonali to return for the armband to be fixed again.