AC Milan loan was special for Brahim Diaz, although Real Madrid always remained his dream – Top

On September 4, 2020, when the first of his two loan moves to AC Milan was officially announced, Brahim Diaz would not at all have expected to end up spending the next three seasons at San Siro.

His plan was always to come back to Real Madrid, something he has finally achieved this summer, signing a new four-year deal in June before being included on the club’s pre-season tour of the United States — where the two teams meet in a friendly on Sunday evening, local time, in Los Angeles.

Diaz, who turns 24 early next month, made 124 appearances across all competitions during his almost three years with Milan, scoring 18 goals and providing 15 assists.

The Italians were keen to sign him permanently at several points over the midfielder’s two spells with them.

They had paid Madrid €1million (£866,000/$1.1m at current exchange rates) to secure that initial loan late in the summer 2020 transfer window — a deal that did not include a purchase option, despite Milan pushing for one and despite reports in the Italian media suggesting that one existed.

Then a year later, Milan once again managed to borrow Diaz, this time for two seasons — for the first season they paid a €3million fee and for the second €3.5m. In total, Madrid have received €7.5m to lend Milan a player they had signed for €19m (plus a potential further €6m in variables) from Manchester City in January 2019.

Economically, the strategy has been a success for Madrid. And in sporting terms? The same. There is no greater proof of Diaz’s growth than Milan wanting to buy him again this summer and Madrid bringing him back, extending his contract and presenting him as a new signing at their Valdebebas training complex.

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Even if Diaz always wanted to return to his native Spain, he lived his time in Italy to the fullest. He felt at home in Milan. Over the three years he stayed in two different apartments in the same area of the city, directly opposite the iconic San Siro, where he had several Inter Milan players as neighbours, including Croatia international Marcelo Brozovic.

Diaz’s best friend at Milan was their France left-back Theo Hernandez, with whom he used to spend time off the pitch — as he did with Samu Castillejo, the now-Valencia winger who, like him, was born in the resort city of Malaga. Portuguese forward Rafael Leao was close to Diaz, too.

Another key figure during his adventure in Milan was Zlatan Ibrahimovic, known at the club as someone important in raising standards and competitiveness among the youngsters. “He’s the same age as my dad (41). We got on,” said Diaz. “He used to give me advice. I’ve got a good relationship with him on and off the pitch.”

Diaz was at all times very comfortable at the club and in the city. In fact, returning to Milan was the only alternative he would consider if he couldn’t play for parent club Madrid. He developed a lot as a player during his three seasons in Italy and enjoyed great success. He helped Milan return to the Champions League after a seven-year absence, win their first Serie A title in 11 seasons and, last term, reach the Champions League semi-finals, while wearing the iconic No 10 shirt previously occupied by the likes of Nils Liedholm, Gianni Rivera and Ruud Gullit for the past two seasons.

Last year was significant for Diaz in terms of maturity and mental attitude, too, for the way he overcame the summer signing of Charles De Ketelaere from Belgium’s Club Bruges for an initial €32million. Such a big investment in someone who plays the same position as Diaz threatened his status as a starter, but the Spaniard actually increased his game time from 2,438 minutes in 2021-22 to 2,684 (eighth-most in the squad), contributing seven goals and seven assists, to De Ketelaere’s 1,480 (17th-most in the squad).

Stefano Pioli, Milan’s head coach since the 2019-20 season, rated Diaz. He was supposed to develop 21-year-old De Ketelaere, but in the end reinvented the Madrid loanee in their big games as a right-winger or inside-right. And Diaz responded by showing up in those important fixtures. “Obviously, I’d like to carry on coaching him,” Pioli said before the end of last season.

However, Diaz’s priority was always to be back at the Bernabeu. He stayed in contact with team-mates at his parent club, especially Vinicius Junior and Thibaut Courtois, via social media. The Madrid board also sent messages after his good performances for Milan, encouraging him to keep it up.

And while he was in Italy, members of his family continued to live near Madrid. It is said that Diaz’s father and agent, Sufiel, has kept the same WhatsApp profile photo throughout his time on loan — a picture of his son’s presentation after moving back home from England in 2019.

They are now in a different house within the same luxury development to the north of the Spanish capital, starting a new chapter without forgetting the previous one.

Talks with Madrid over a contract renewal actually began last summer. Then, as The Athletic revealed at the time, February saw an agreement reached in principle to extend his deal past its then-expiry date in 2025 for another two years, while raising the player’s salary to place him among the club’s middle tier of earners.

This move, carried out discreetly so as not to harm Diaz’s wellbeing in Milan or hurt the feelings of the Italian club’s fans, was always independent of fellow midfielder Marco Asensio’s future, with the 27-year-old finally leaving for Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent this summer. All that was missing, after that February agreement, was for Diaz to be convinced by the plan Madrid have for him, which he was.

And in these first weeks of pre-season training, his performances have delighted the club’s coaching staff.

“He has returned from Milan very well, stronger and more complete; he will help us,” head coach Carlo Ancelotti — another to have worn the No 10 for the Italian club — said on Thursday, among his first words to the media since the team arrived in Los Angeles for their tour of the United States.

And this evening, at the famous 92,000-capacity Rose Bowl in Pasadena, site of the 1994 men’s World Cup final, the 1999 women’s version and five NFL Super Bowls, Diaz will take to the pitch as a Madrid player again, three years and four days on from his previous appearance for them.

It will be a special occasion for him and his loved ones — and having his old Milan team-mates as the opposition couldn’t be more fitting.

Real Madrid’s pre-season tour of the US

• July 23: AC Milan, The Rose Bowl, Los Angeles (10pm ET, 3am BST)
• July 26: Manchester United, NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas (8:30pm ET, 1:30am BST)
• July 29: Barcelona, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas (5pm ET, 10pm BST)
• August 2: Juventus, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida (7:30pm ET, 12:30am BST)

(Top photo: Maria Jimenez/Real Madrid via Getty Images)