This season, Francesco Camarda was expected to shine in a secondary role, but he’s being overshadowed by another member of the AC Milan team.

In the summer, Ruben Amorim was bold with Camarda. The young striker was going to stay; he was going to be Goncalo Ramos’ back-up – and only back-up at that – but that’s not really been seen.

Minutes have been hard to come by for the Italian and his first start against Salzburg last week wasn’t fruitful. With Ramos out of the game against Bournemouth, though, the expectation was that he’d start again.

However, that role will instead be given to Alphadjo Cisse, who’ll play as a makeshift false nine. A statement that, perhaps, Camarda isn’t what Amorim had hoped in the summer.

Differing fates

Speaking to MilanNews, Sky journalist Massimo Marianella admitted that Camarda was beginning to struggle, whilst Cisse flies.

Who would you play between Cisse and Camarda as a centre-forward, considering the physicality of Bournemouth’s English defenders?

“You’re asking me a difficult question, because I haven’t seen Cisse play as a pure centre-forward enough: he’s a versatile player who can play multiple roles, and I’m very fascinated by him.

“Amorim understood this immediately: as soon as he arrived in Italy, one of the first things he said was that the boy would play a lot with him because of his enormous potential. And he reiterated this yesterday in the press conference, emphasising that he’s only performed 50% of his true potential.

“Can he play as a centre-forward? He has done well, scoring goals. On the other hand, Camarda is a true centre-forward, but he’s in a diametrically opposite situation: if one graph is rising, another is stagnating, if not falling.

“This match could represent an opportunity, but the English atmosphere will be very heated, engaging, and difficult. I don’t know Francesco’s character well enough to know whether such a context will excite him or end up intimidating him a little.

“They’re both options. viable options: if you give me a choice, I’d personally try Camarda as a striker to give Cisse the option of playing in another role. Either way, they’re both valid options.”

The season is long and there is a lot of football still to be played, but Camarda doesn’t seem to be growing with it. Instead, he appears to be somewhat sinking…