IPNEWS-Monrovia: The French Ligue 1 defending champions, Lille forward Timothy Weah hopes to play for AC Milan in the future because it is part of his “family history”.
Weah’s father George spent five seasons at Milan in the 1990s, winning two Serie A titles and becoming the first – and still only – African player to win the Balon d’Or, which is the best footballer in the world.
The 21-year-old would love to emulate his dad and represent the Rossoneri, though he insists his primary concern is to impress for Ligue 1 champions, Lille.
“Of course I am focused on Lille, but it has always been my ambition to one day play in a great league like Serie A and, in particular, for a big club like Milan, which is part of my family history after all,” he told La Gazzetta della Sport’s Sportweek.
“My dad, George Manneh Weah, never talks about it openly, but when I was a child, there was the idea of playing for the Rossoneri’s youth teams. Things went differently, but maybe I’ll arrive at Milan anyway. “Things go so fast in football, and you never know.”
United States international Weah has scored just five goals in 64 appearances in all competitions for Lille since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain – another of his father’s former clubs – in June 2019.
Weah has failed to score in Ligue 1 this season, despite making 19 appearances and starting 10 games. He has supplied three assists, but has only had three efforts on target.
His Lille team-mate Jonathan Bamba is the only forward to have made more Ligue 1 starts (18) without finding the net in 2021-22.
Timothy Weah was born in New York, the United States of America automatically making him a US citizen despite having a Liberia father who is now President of the country. In an interview with BCC some time ago, Timothy said he chose to play for the United States of America over Liberia because he is a born citizen of the US, unlike Liberia, where his father hails.
Timothy is the first American player with Liberian descent, due to his father being a Liberian, to ever win the French Ligue 1 Title. During the days of his father, George Weah in the French League, he was unable to win the French Ligue 1 title with AS Monaco or Paris Saint Germain, where he played for years before moving to AC Milan in 1995 as replacement for the prolific and ever-present Marco Van Basten of Holland.
There are several Liberian footballer who plied their trade in the French Ligue back in the day, including Jame Salinsa Debbah, Joe Armstrong Nagbe, Kelvin Sebwe, Christopher Wreh, Thomas Kojo, Victor Konwlo, Oliver Makor, Prince Daye, Abraham Burn Burn Jackson, Edward Zico Dixon, among many others, but none of them were able to win the French Ligue 1 title.
Although George Weah was able to win the French League Cup with PSG and the European Cup Winners Cup with AC Monaco during his hey days bu he neve won the French Ligue 1 title. At AC Milan, Weah won two Serie A titles and subsequently won the African, European and World best titles in 1995. Writes Siebo Williams, siebowilliams@yahoo.co,; +231-770-217748 with additional reporting by www.livescore.com.
