The Sad But True Story of Suso

Jesús Joaquín Fernández Sáenz de la Torre, better known as Suso, joined Milan from Liverpool on Jan. 17, 2015. He made his debut 10 days later in the quarterfinals of Coppa Italia, replacing Michelangelo Albertazzi for the last 10 minutes of a 1-0 home defeat against Lazio.

Suso's Serie A debut did not happen until April 4, when he entered to play alongside Gianpaolo Pazzini in the 77th minute of a 2-1 win away at Palermo.

Fast forward to July 8. Suso had rarely played, making only six official appearances for Milan. Besides a brace against Reggiana in a friendly, Suso was unable to showcase his talent. Despite his limited amount of playing time, he remained optimistic and said the following in July:

"The support-striker is where I feel most at ease, I have played in that position for a long time throughout my career. I have also played on the right but I have always considered myself a number 10. (This) is a chance to prove to the coach that I can play in this team, I can be a regular. I want to show what I can do, then the coach will decide."

Following Filippo Inzaghi's footsteps, Sinisa Mihajlovic did not take advantage of the underrated Spaniard. Suso’s dynamic long shot and effortless dribbling, coupled with his hard working attitude should have propelled him to a starting position. Instead of this, Suso continued to rot on the bench under Mihajlovic. At the beginning of December, his agent Jaime Serra threatened his departure.

"Evidently Mihajlovic believes in other players more and is more ready to play them and it's the decision of the coach. Evaluations? At the end of December. If the situation is still the present one then we'll take a departure under consideration.

"For now though, we haven't discussed it. At the moment, nothing has been decided."

Prior to Milan's game against Frosinone, a report claimed the 22 year old would join Genoa on a six-month loan with the option to renew the deal in the summer window. That was confirmed by both Mihajlovic and Galliani.

From Galliani:

"For Suso we already have an agreement with Genoa, if also the player will find an agreement, he will start to train with them right after Christmas."

Mihajlovic was more direct.

"Suso is already at Genoa"

Suso officially joined Genoa on Monday.

Is this kind of occurrence new? Unfortunately, not for Milan. A talented young prospect joins, rarely plays, and then leaves for a loan deal that turns into a "forever deal." Riccardo Saponara, anyone?

It will only be a matter of time before another young prospect is loaned out because of a limited amount of playing time. Unfortunately, it seems Jose Mauri may be next.