Paolo Maldini prevented a move to Bayer Leverkusen

AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez is one of the best full-backs in Serie A – if not in Europe. The Frenchman was a hair’s breadth from moving from Real Madrid to Milan in 2019, but to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. The 24-year-old brother of Bayern star Lucas Hernandez revealed this in an interview with the L’Equipe.

Milan have one person to thank for the fact that Theo Hernandez didn’t end up in Leverkusen: Paolo Maldini, the club legend and current squad planner at AC Milan.

“I was about to sign for Bayer Leverkusen, but Maldini turned everything upside down. He visited me on holiday in Ibiza. We talked about football, I immediately realized that Milan was the right place for me” said Theo Hernandez.

In Milan, after a short period of familiarization, he developed into a regular player – and also into a French international.

Hernandez: “Zlatan is a bad boy”

In September 2021 he made his debut for the Equipe Tricolore. Theo Hernandez has played four international matches so far. He will probably no longer be able to match the international mark of his current teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibra made 120 appearances for Sweden.

In Milan, Theo Hernandez plays with many stars in a team, but Ibrahimovic is the player he looks up to the most. “He’s a ‘bad boy’! But in the right way. He always wants to help us, he gives us advice. And when Zlatan speaks, we listen,” said Theo Hernandez in the interview.