Everton reportedly want to bring Daniel Maldini to the Premier League – but Serie A giants AC Milan are desperate to keem him away from Carlo Ancelotti.
Being a Maldini in Milan can be a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, it’s no bad thing to have family ties with two of the greatest defenders ever to play the game, a pair of bonafide Serie A and Milanese legends. But, for 18-year-old Daniel, the expectation to follow in the footsteps of father Paolo and grandfather Cesare must feel crushing at times.
Not that the teenager often betrays his nerves.
A classy and self-confident attacking midfielder rather than a rock-solid centre-half, the third member of the Maldini family to wear those iconic red and black stripes might have just one Serie A game under his belt but, as long as he builds the potential that has been handed down through the generations, that will be the first of many.
According to Calciomercato, Everton have made an ambitious attempt to lure Maldini Jr away from the San Siro. But trying to convince Milan to cash in on a budding talent who has been tipped for stardom as soon as he stepped foot on Planet Earth would be like trying to climb Mount Everest in heelies.
Milan have made it clear that Maldini isn’t going anywhere. And that’s a stance Rossoneri legend Clarence Seedorf can get behind.
There is a famous video on YouTube showing Seedorf in his mid-noughties peak, joyously running rings around a gaggle of enthusiastic toddlers during a pre-match warm up. That is, of course, until a five-year-old Daniele Maldini pulls off a sliding challenge so perfect it could have been Paolo himself.
“That video is cool!” Seedorf, the five-time Champions League winner, would later reflect to FourFourTwo.
“There were 15 kids trying to get the ball from me, but Daniel showed talent. Keep an eye on him: he could become very good.”
Maldini is certainly on the right track as he looks to make Seedorf’s prediction come true.
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