Leonardo warns Piatek that he must ‘earn’ Milan No 9 jersey

Leonardo has warned Krzysztof Piatek that he must ‘earn’ Milan No 9’s jersey but assured ‘there’s a 9 inside of him’.

Piatek took No 19 as opposed to 9, which has been filled unsuccessfully since Filippo Inzaghi’s retirement in 2012, and Leonardo challenged the Milan new boy to justify his €35m price tag.

“There’s no superstition behind him not wearing the No 9,” he said at the Pole’s presentation on Thursday.

“We made the decision. He asked for the No 9 but we think that right now, the No 9 should be earned.

“It’s a pretty important number, so we had him choose 19. However, there’s a No 9 inside of him.

“There’s not much to say about Higuain. He made his choice and he’s gone. We’re here for Piatek so we’ll talk about him.

“When we arrived Maldini and I were two legends, but now with Gazidis we’re three. Choosing Piatek wasn’t so difficult.

“He scored 13 goals in 19 games and immediately showed his qualities. We didn’t plan on signing him and it was an unforeseen investment, but we had the chance to invest and choosing him wasn’t difficult.

“He already knows our football and League well. Attempts for Ibra and Fabregas weren’t blocked by our position on the market but rather by market situations.

“Every decision we make is shared by everyone, even by the Coach. We resolved Higuain’s loan with Juventus and thus we could sign the player we wanted.

“We’ve done a lot so far, maybe we’re the ones who have done the most. We’ve made two big signings, not only for the present but also for the future.

“Now we have to see if we can do anything else, but the squad is competitive enough with Piatek and Paqueta.

“Higuain made his choice and there’s little else to say about him. We have players who want to stay with us. We need lads who want to get involved in our project.”