LÉO DUARTE: PLAYER FOCUS

Red and black to red and black. From Flamengo to AC Milan. After Lucas Paquetá in January, it's now time for Léo Duarte to follow the same path. The Brazilian defender who was born in 1996 has signed for the Rossoneri on a permanent basis to give Marco Giampaolo more options.

He recently turned 23 (Born in Mococa, 17 July 1996) and Léo Duarte is a right-footed centre-back who developed at Flamengo before making his first-team debut in May 2016. He appeared 60 times for the Mengão in just over three seasons, scoring two goals. He made 49 appearances in the Brasileirão, 48 of which were starts and 33 came in the last season alone. In addition, he played 11 times in the 2019 Copa Libertadores.

Along with Iago, Léo Duarte is the only defender born after 1 January 1996 to have made at least 40 appearances in the last two Brasileirão seasons (in 2018 and 2019). Furthermore, he's the second-youngest player to have made at least seven starts in the 2019 Copa Libertadores, after Leonardo Mifflin.

Duarte is a very quick defender, blessed with good technique, excellent reading of the play and strong marking. He's also good in the air. He was the Flamengo player who won the most aerial duels (101) in the last two Brasileirão seasons (2018 and 2019). Although he normally plays at centre-back, he is also capable of playing at right-back where he can make use of his pace.

The official PUMA match kits for the 2019/20 season are available in the AC Milan Online Store!