Armand Laurienté, Sassuolo's French forward, was among the architects of a 2-0 victory against Milan on Sunday that sent the rossoneri's supporters home in fury and kept the neroverdi firmly in the middle of the Serie A table. The win, in which Laurienté combined with Domenico Berardi to dismantle a Milan side already under pressure, underlined once more why the 27-year-old is the connective tissue of Fabio Grosso's attack.
The significance of the result extends beyond three points. Sassuolo sit tenth with 49 points from 35 matches, a position of mid-table security that Laurienté's contributions have helped construct across a long season. His six goals and nine assists — a combined return of 15 direct goal involvements — represent a level of output that few players in the squad can match, and his average rating of 7.00 across the campaign reflects consistent rather than episodic influence. He is not a player who disappears for stretches and then rescues a result; he is one who makes the team function week to week.
Against Milan, the headlines paired his name with Berardi's, and that partnership is worth examining. Laurienté operates best when there is a focal point ahead of or beside him — someone to combine with in tight spaces and then exploit the width that opens up. Berardi provides exactly that dynamic, and when both are available and in form, Grosso's Sassuolo become a considerably more difficult proposition than their mid-table standing suggests.
The complication is what comes next. Reports have linked former Milan defender Ignazio Abate to the Sassuolo head coach position, with Grosso's future at the club uncertain heading into the summer. For Laurienté, a change in management is not a trivial matter. His season statistics — built under Grosso's system — suggest a player who has found a structure that suits him. A new coach brings new ideas, and not all of them will necessarily accommodate a forward whose value lies as much in creation as in finishing.
His AI overall score of 67 out of a potential 100 indicates a player operating close to his ceiling within current conditions, but with room that the right environment could unlock. Whether Abate, if appointed, represents that environment is an open question — one that the club's recruitment decisions this summer will begin to answer.
What is already settled is Laurienté's contribution to a season that, without him, would have looked considerably more anxious. Sassuolo's 43 goals in 35 matches is a modest total, and without nine assists threading through that number, the picture would be bleaker still. He has earned the right to be at the centre of whatever Sassuolo build next.