Two years ago, Tottenham Hotspur were going head to head with Liverpool in the Champions League final while AC Milan were missing out on the competition altogether, finishing one point outside the Serie A’s top four.
Flash forward to September 2021 and it’s fair to say the trajectories of the sides has changed significantly.
Three successive London derby defeats – by an aggregate score of 9-1 no less – means serious questions are already being asked about Nuno Espirito Santo, Tottenham slipping from the top of the Premier League to 11th in the blink of an eye.
And while Spurs prepare for a Conference League meeting with NS Mura of Slovenia this week, Milan will welcome Atletico Madrid to the San Siro tonight. It’s a glamour fixture against the champions of Spain and fitting reward for a side returning to the limelight after almost a decade in the shadows.
And, standing between the sticks when Atletico come to town, Mike Maignan could be forgiven for glancing around the packed San Siro and thinking the decision he made four months ago – swapping Lille for the Rossoneri in a deal worth £13 million – has proven the right one.
Did Mike Maignan make the right decision this summer?
Perhaps the biggest compliment that can be paid to the France international is that, since moving to Milan in May, Gigi Donnarumma has been forgotten already.
As arguably the best young goalkeeper in world football twiddles his thumbs on the PSG bench, Maignan is being labelled the ‘best goalkeeper in Europe’, a claim Italian publication Calciomercato backs up by pointing out the Ligue 1 champion has saved an astonishing 80 per cent of shots he’s faced this season.
“He is an excellent goalkeeper with great quality and he must continue like this. He is doing well,” Milan boss Stefano Pioli said after the recent 3-2 defeat at Liverpool, a result that would have been a lot more lopsided if it wasn’t for Maignan’s heroics.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Maignan was Tottenham’s top target before they landed another Serie A shot-stopper in the shape of Pierluigi Gollini.
And should Maignan produce another man of the match performance in the Champions League tonight, Tottenham fans could be forgiven for wondering whether appointing Nuno wasn’t the only mistake the club made last summer.
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