AC Milan will wear an arm patch commemorating Franco Baresi for the whole of the 2026/7 season, the Rossoneri said Friday in unveiling their latest tribute to their great defender and captain who died aged 66 on July 31.
    They said the patch, 6 Per Sempre (Number Six Forever, or You Are Forever) would be worn on their left sleeves, "the very arm on which, for over 700 matches, from 1982 to 1997, Franco wore his captain's armband." The patch will debut Saturday in the Serie A Women's Cup match at the PUMA House of Football against Como Women, while the men's first team will wear it for the first time in the away match against Torino on Sunday, August 23.
    The patch will be free for all fans at AC Milan Stores with the purchase of an official 2026-27 jersey.
    "'6 per sempre'," the club emphasizes, "encapsulates all the love and affection the Rossoneri world has for Franco Baresi, as well as that magical number that in AC Milan's history will forever be synonymous with the Captain, loyalty, and legend.
    "It's a phrase that speaks of an unbreakable bond, made of memory, belonging, and affection, and which takes shape in the special commemorative patch that, for the entire 2026/27 season, will be worn by the First Teams, Milan Futuro, and the Primavera teams." A cultured player who could start attacks as we as stopping them, Baresi is considered one of the greatest defenders of all time.
    A one-club man who played as a sweeper and a centre back, he made 719 appearances for Milan between his debut aged 17 in 1977 and his retirement in 1997, helping them win three European Cup/Champions League titles and six Serie A crowns, among other trophies.
    He also helped Milan twice return to the top flight after two relegations in the early 1980s before Silvio Berlusconi took over the club and brought in the players that would make them world-beaters.
    Baresi was in the Azzurri's victorious 1982 World Cup squad, but unlike his older brother Giuseppe did not play in the Spanish tournament, but captained the team that came runners-up in 1994, cruelly missing a penalty in the final losing shoot-out to Brazil after making a miraculous three-week recovery from a knee injury that normally takes months to heal to snuff out the threat of Bebeto and Romario.
    Another Italy great, Roberto Baggio, skied his penalty as Baresi had done to hand the Verdeoro their fourth world title.

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