Player Focus: Saponara Keeping the Traditional Number 10 Role Alive

All Riccardo Saponara ever dreamed of was to play in the red and black of AC Milan. For that, his father Luciano is to blame. A passionate fan of the club, he’s the one who passed it onto his son.  

As a boy, Saponara’s first football memory was of Milan winning the Scudetto in 1999. Only eight at the time, he’d hassle Luciano into taking him all over just to get up close and personal with Milan. They once hung around Alberto Zaccheroni’s house in Cesenatico and were lucky enough to have a chance encounter with him there. Another time, Saponara was caught by Milan’s security detail sneaking into the mixed zone. “Maurizio Ganz saw me, picked me up and took me on the bus with Weah, N’Gotty and Ambrosini.”  

Milan were as big a part of Saponara’s childhood as the boy scouts. “I lived for summer camp and all those hours in the woods away from things kids get addicted too.” Videogames and the like. Except Saponara was addicted to Milan. To this day his hero remains Ricky Kaka. Aware of his profound admiration for the Ballon d’Or winner, people call him ‘Ricky’ too.  

Saponara has always sought to play with the same elegance and it must have felt like destiny when Milan, amid much hype, signed him for €3.8m three years ago. When Empoli broke the news to him about the transfer, his reaction was as you might expect. “I started to cry,” he said. “For me, football is Milan.” His wish had come true. The reality, however, never matched the fantasy. It was a disappointing rather than fulfilling experience.  

Saponara made only eight appearances in a Milan shirt. Going from Serie B to San Siro was a big leap and it was clear he would need time to adapt. A groin injury didn’t help in that regard. Nor did Milan’s muddled recruitment strategy. In the very summer the ‘New Kaka’ joined, the ‘Old Kaka’ returned too. On the one hand, this was a blessing for Saponara. He got to work every day with the player he revered. On the other, it was a curse because, at least in terms of reputation, there was now no ordinary player ahead of him in the pecking order.  

Milan were also descending into crisis. Even coaches with track records of carefully nurturing young talent tend to go with experience in such times. After all, it can be an unforgiving environment for kids to learn and build confidence. The pressure is too high. The atmosphere too unstable. Max Allegri, a big admirer of Saponara’s nascent talent, protected him by leaving him out. The respect was mutual. Allegri has a weakness for No.10s and Saponara promised to be a throwback to the playmakers of old. When Milan sacked him after a defeat to Sassuolo, the victim of a power struggle between Adriano Galliani and Barbara Berlusconi, Saponara lost his principal sponsor. “Allegri wanted me. Without him, it was more complicated,” he revealed. “As a Milan fan, I wanted to do well, but I felt impotent.”  

A year ago, he returned to Empoli. The deal was a loan including an obligation to make a permanent arrangement of it for €4.8m in the summer. Reunited with Maurizio Sarri, “a father figure”, Saponara combined for 10 goals in 17 appearances. An Empoli team that had hitherto played some wonderful orchestral football without scoring the goals to go with their play, now had a ‘safepicker’ in Saponara. In the end they survived with four games to spare.  

Playing in his natural position in a functional team instead of a broken one like Milan, Saponara delivered on his potential. The same thing happened with M’Baye Niang while on loan at Genoa. As a trend it is now repeating itself with Suso too. It’s embarrassing for Milan, because while it’s one thing to sell Saponara; it’s another to practically give him away. 

Sarri wished to take Saponara with him to Napoli. An offer of €15m was put on the table but even when confronted with making a vast and immediate return on their investment, Empoli had a valuation of their own and it was significantly higher, which in itself is another indictment of Milan. Empoli also didn’t want to lose any more of their players to Napoli. Mirko Valdifiori and Elseid Hysaj were already San Paolo bound and another star, Daniele Rugani, was off to Juventus. “No one in Italy can afford him now,” Sarri concluded.  

Meanwhile Saponara has gone from strength to strength. Man of the Match for Empoli at the weekend, it underlined once again how right Empoli were to keep hold of him and how wrong Milan were to let go. Saponara has created 46 chances from open play this season, a return bettered only by Marek Hamsik (50). A moment of brilliance from him got his team back into the game at the Castellani. Twice behind to Milan, he dribbled past Alessio Romagnoli and, out of the corner of his eye, picked out Piotr Zielinski to score Empoli’s first equaliser. It was Saponara’s seventh assist of the campaign - only Lorenzo Insigne (8) has more - and in total he has now combined for 12 goals - 22 in the last year. To be honest, it was something of a surprise that he didn’t set up Massimo Maccarone to make it 2-2. The pair have accounted for 70% of Empoli’s goals this season. 

Few players are as dedicated to their position and their craft as Saponara. He’s the first to training and the last to leave. He’ll work out even if a training session isn’t scheduled. “I don’t deserve to be lumped in with your average superficial footballer,” he told La Gazzetta. “I’m obsessive.” Truthfully it doesn’t seem like there is much room in his life for anything outside of football. “On an evening I work on the mental side of my game. I watch videos and do visualisation exercises. Mentally I imagine myself moving towards my goals. I visualise my opponents and what I would like to do on the pitch.” 

In a game with fewer and fewer traditional No.10s, he keeps the role alive. “The trequartista is football in its purest form. It’s a position of inspiration. It’s the harmony in this sport. I play piano. I like the music of Ludovico Einaudi and I find musicality in good football.” Rhythm. Timing. Movement.  

Considering Sinisa Mihajlovic would like play with a No.10 as he did at Sampdoria, it must be frustrating to know that Milan once had Saponara right under their noses. Just imagine if he signs for Juventus as expected this summer. The groundwork is being laid as we speak and this is now very much an Old Lady trademark.

Ever since PSG beat them to Marco Verratti, they have made a point of getting to the best talent in Italy before the competition. A year ago it was Stefano Sturaro. Last summer it was Rugani and Simone Zaza. This month they’ve already wrapped up deals for Rolando Mandragora, Stefano Sensi and - perhaps least excitingly - Marcello Trotta. Next summer it could well be the turn of Saponara and Domenico Berardi.  

Acquiring a No.10 was a priority for Allegri in the last window. “Without Tevez and Pirlo, we’ll have to change and experiment with new solutions,” he told La Repubblica. “I’d like an inventor. A player who never looks for the obvious solution. A maverick in an otherwise balanced tactical plan.” Allegri even went on the record with his admiration for Oscar and Isco. Attention then focused on Julian Draxler, but Juventus’s valuation of the player and Schalke’s differed widely.  

Dybala has since taken on the mantle. A 9-and-a-half, he’s that curious hybrid between finisher and creator. But with Allegri’s long-term intention still very much being that of lining Juventus up in a 4-3-1-2 could Saponara be the one he has in mind for the role? Not if Sarri has anything to do with it. Napoli play Empoli at the weekend and if he gets his way, the San Paolo will be his home next season.

Does Saponara warrant a second chance at one of Italy's top teams? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below