Young French defender Pierre Calulo has found the right two professors to hone his talent at Milan, along with Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, in a season in which he hopes to win the Serie A title with his Lombard side against expectations.

The 21-year-old is not the most prominent French star with AC Milan, with striker Olivier Giroud, goalkeeper Mike Minnian or defender Theo Hernandez. But the player, who came from Lyon in September 2020, booked himself a place in Milan after a long heart injury to Danish defender Simon Cayer.

Calulo, who hopes to one day play alongside his two professional brothers, Ajaccio and Sochaux in France’s second division, has contributed this season to Milan’s meteoric rise, which has been in search of a first title since 2011. in the Italian league.

“I chose Milan because it was a continuation of my development,” he said during a meeting with Italian French students organized by the Lombardy club and visited by AFP. “This is the history of the club, the fans, the San Siro (stadium), but at first I thought about continuing development.

– Fan of Ronaldinho –

“At first I didn’t realize the full importance of San Siro, I just thought about the game. But now that it’s full, the atmosphere is crazy,” continued the player, who was born in Lyon in 2000.

Milan lead the league table with 80 points, with two games left in the competition, two points ahead of their neighbor and rival Inter. On Sunday, Milan take on an eighth Atalanta in a difficult match, while Inter will beat an eighteenth Cagliari trying to avoid relegation.

Calolo explains the importance of contact with former giant defenders such as Maldini (53) and Baresi (62), who moved into Milan’s administrative hierarchy after writing the most beautiful pages in its history: “When they talk to me, it helps, of course . It can be said that we have good professors in Milan… “.

After starting his career and reaching the age of sixteen, many compared him to former French international defender Lilian Thuram, but he confirms that he used to follow the example of two strikers, not defenders.

Not forgetting, of course, his fellow veteran Swedish attacking star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has been out several times this season due to successive injuries: “He is in the category of high-level players. When I was ten years old, I used to play electronic games with him on the same team. Actually playing with him Today with Milan, it makes me very happy.”

Calolo is now at home in the Lombard capital with a team looking to reclaim glory, first local and then continental. “There are a lot of young players here, they have almost the same priorities, the discussion always seems easy. On the field we speak Italian, even among the French. But in the dressing rooms We can talk in French, in Spanish … “.

Even coach Stefano Pioli has improved in foreign languages, “he has a good level of English and he speaks good French.” As for the Italian title, Kalolo is avoiding expectations, waiting for the moment of glory that Milan has dreamed of for more than a decade.