Italian Media Hammers ‘Statue’ Koni De Winter After Milan Shocker Vs Napoli
De Winter's performance was deemed 'diabolical'.
Giuseppe Labellarte
Updated on 19 December 2025
Milan defender Koni De Winter delivered a much-criticised performance in Thursday’s Italian Super Cup defeat to Napoli.
Koni De Winter struggles as Milan fall to Napoli in Italian Super Cup
The Rossoneri’s Italian Super Cup run ended as Antonio Conte’s charges won a fiery match 2-0 and reached the final in Riyadh.
David Neres opened the scoring in the 39th minute before the impressive Rasmus Hojlund netted on 63 minutes.
Much of the post-match focus fell on De Winter, who struggled badly against Hojlund and received criticism from the Italian media.
Tuttomercatoweb said De Winter was “called to a delicate task” replacing Matteo Gabbia.
However, the Belgian had “more than one problem” containing Hojlund.
TMW gave him a rating of 5 out of 10, but other Italian press outlets were even more critical of De Winter.
“Koni looked like a statue in a wax museum when it came to marking Hojlund,” wrote Calciomercato, who gave him a 4 out of 10.
“His sluggishness is so evident that it leads to two game-changing situations.
“The Dane first sets up Neres for the opening goal and then outwits the Belgian to score the 2-0 goal that clinches the game.”
Corriere also went with a 4 out of 10 as they wrote: “To err is human, to persevere is diabolical.
“As against Sassuolo’s Pinamonti, he also played the role of the skittle against Hojlund. Not once, but twice.
“He was rightly substituted. But the truth is that at this level he’s struggling a lot. SOS Gabbia: better get back quickly.”
Across the same ratings, Mike Maignan and Christopher Nkunku also drew heavy criticism as Milan struggled.
The silver lining for Allegri in De Winter situation
De Winter’s performance was the kind that would make managers reassess their transfer situation.
The only silver lining for Max Allegri is that the transfer window is on the horizon, which means he can act accordingly.
Niclas Fullkrug is seemingly Milan-bound, but that won’t be enough for the Rossoneri.
Milan also need a new defender: not a back-up, but a quality player who could actually compete with the starters.
Giuseppe Labellarte
Giuseppe Labellarte is a sports journalist with over a decade of professional experience in the industry. His main professional expertise is in soccer. Prior to joining FootItalia, he worked for the likes of Sports Mole, TBR Football, the Chelsea Chronicle and numerous other sites, along with having bylines in the likes of the Nottingham Post. He holds degrees in Journalism and International Relations.
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