Theo Hernández symbolically picks up the phone regularly. The AC Milan star always celebrates with this gesture after his goals.
However, he waits in vain for a call from a certain person: Didier Deschamps. France’s national coach never invited Hernández to an international match. Curious: Instead, of all people, his brother Lucas from FC Bayern usually plays in this position at the Equipe Tricolore. The world champion’s squad also recently featured Lucas Digne (Everton) and Benjamin Mendy (ManCity).
For many this is inexplicable. Hernández, who would also be eligible to play for Spain, is currently considered by some experts to be the best left-back in the world.
While his big brother is still struggling step by step towards top form at Bayern, Theo has long since turned out to be a high-flyer. Heretical one could ask: Did the Munich-based company buy the wrong Hernández in the summer of 2019 when they paid 80 million euros for Lucas?
Theo sees himself on the right path not only to outstrip his brother. “I work every day to improve and become the best,” he said DAZN. A few minutes before this statement, the 23-year-old had his club cheer again. A week ago, the left-footed player scored against Lazio Rome with a header goal in stoppage time for the 3-2 win. (SERVICE: Results and schedule of Serie A)
Hernández with nine scorer points
Thanks to the defensive man, Milan greets with one point ahead of city rivals Inter from first place in Serie A. (SERVICE: Table of Serie A)
While almost all eyes are on superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the front runner, the Frenchman has become the second great guarantor of success.
The man from the left wing has scored five goals so far. He even tied a brace against Parma at 2-2 in mid-December. In addition, with the strong performance, the top performer also delivered four assists in 20 competitive games. In Serie A, Hernández played through 13 of 14 games.
Noticeable: Hernández is an all-rounder. Not only is he by far the most dangerous defender in the league, but also a bank defensively.
Hernández: Snappy defensive, shiny offensively
As the only star from Milan’s back line, the son of former professional Jean-Francois Hernández has not yet made a major mistake before conceding a goal.
In addition, the left-back with the urge to move forward is also a really unpleasant opponent – similar to his brother Lucas.
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The 19 successful tackles mean second place behind David Calabria (30) in Serie A. The 15 intercepted passes are the best in the team.
Another indication of the biting pace: Hernández has to serve his first yellow card suspension after the 14th matchday.
Marcelo was too strong at Real
The whiz kid learned all of his strengths in the youth of Atlético Madrid. He was considered a mega talent early on and moved to arch-rivals Real Madrid in 2017 for around 24 million euros.
But the newcomer was never the first choice there and couldn’t get past Marcelo. The young man made only 23 competitive games for the royal team and was therefore awarded to San Sebastian in 2018. “I came to Real very young and had no minutes. It was complicated because I didn’t have the confidence I have now,” said the star on the Spanish radio station Zero Wave.
In 2019 he finally moved to AC Milan for 20 million euros and finally said goodbye to Madrid.
The career has really picked up speed since then. With a current market value, Hernández belongs loudly transfermarkt.de after Alphonso Davies and Andrew Robertson and together with Renan Lodi, Andrew Robertson, Ben Chilwell and his brother Lucas to the third most valuable left-backs. According to the portal, its market value is a whopping 50 million euros. When he arrived in Italy, it was still 15 million euros.
Will Hernández play for France or Spain?
At the traditional Italian club, the regular player made a decisive contribution in one and a half seasons to ensure that after years of mediocrity, they return to the top. “I think I have the best moment of my career right now,” said Hernández Zero Wave. The left-back also announced: “If I could, I would stay with Milan forever.”
His contract with Milan runs until 2024. And by then at the latest he should have received this one call from Deschamps.
Incidentally, if Luis Enrique, Spain’s national coach, was on the line, he would probably get a clear rejection: “I want to play for France. I’ve always said that.”
