AC Milan are preparing for the start of the new season and they are doing so with an added certainty to rely on: Samuele Ricci.
Having returned from their preseason tour of Asia and Australia, Milan are now preparing for a final couple of friendlies before August 17, the first official match of the 2025-26 season against Bari in the Coppa Italia.
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In Asia and Australia, Allegri had the opportunity to study the team, from the veterans to the new arrivals. The player who seems to have convinced the most, as reported by Corriere dello Sport (via MilanPress), is Ricci.
Ricci: The new midfield metronome
The former Torino man was deployed in front of the defence in all three matches, as a holding midfielder. In the 2025-26 season, Milan will need to reduce the number of goals conceded, and the presence of a player like Ricci could help the rearguard be less vulnerable.
Therefore, Milan will have a new metronome. The No.4’s task will be to win back as many balls as possible in the non-possession phase and be as effective as possible in build-up play. His game will be more based around being tidy in possession, leaving the real playmaking to Luka Modric.
Ricci’s most striking characteristic is the ease with which he moves across the midfield, given that in the first three friendlies, Allegri included him in both a 4-3-3 and a 3-5-2. The new signing, therefore, has hit the ground running, as his rocket of a strike against Perth showed.
Grande Ricci!
Good luck to our lads in the upcoming season, we are so close to a great and complete squad for the first time since our legends retired… 3-4 missing peaces and we can fight Conte for Scudetto!
Keep doing your work Tare, Allegri!
Was it really necessary to dismantle the ongoing project, sack anyone meaningful and put incompetent people there, waste 250 millions on non functional team, change 4 coaches and achieve being left out of CL that created another financial hole? For what? To satisfy your ego? Resell for profit? Launder money with Elliott for hedge fund clients?
We’re back at square one this season after all the mess they created in last two seasons since they took over. It’ll be a hard climb from the septic hole they pushed us back in but at least there are some positive signals from the team, Allegri and Tare.
However, a pattern showed us we should not attach ourselves to any of the players. As Gerry said, he’s not getting emotionally attached and therefore so shouldn’t we. They’re in for profiting and high returns on players acquired. Anyone is for sale here and it doesn’t even have to be a ridiculous sum for these profit leeches to consider.
That is why I hope Galliani comes in and moves the stadium story forward. When this is ready I suppose they will be looking at options to sell finally. Not before. I just hope it happens before Le Bro and Gerry push this NBA Europe nonsense into Milan.
I totally agree with you. We should have an owner who focuses on football. A football fanatic who wants to watch his team play. He can get along and have a meal with the coach and players once a month. It would be even better if he was rich and not stingy.
And he cost us 25M. Not 38 or 40.
Allegri can work wonders with him, as he did when we sent away Locatelli who wasn’t projected as being a player of the calibre he became.
It was actually De Zerbi at Sassuolo. He was amazing there and earned his transfer to Juve.
He wanted to leave
Metronome? Really?
Baby steps …then we can walk
Good signing.
But wish we got Palhinha also, he was available on loan.