Tonight will be a strange evening for Yacine Adli as he comes up against his parent club AC Milan at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, hoping to show them what they are missing.
As Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) recall, Adli wanted to stay and fight for a spot at Milan but ultimately was convinced by Paulo Fonseca and the club to accept a loan spell so that he could play more regularly.
After having made the difference during the week against The New Saints in the Conference League, scoring the goal that unlocked the game after 60 minutes of stalemate, the midfielder should remain as a starter also due to Rolando Mandragora’s knee injury.
Right after the European match, Adli spoke about the game against the Rossoneri and what it will mean for him: “It will be special to meet up with close friends, but now I’m here in Florence where I feel good. We want to win and it will be a great match.”
Adli showed flashes of what he is capable of last season under Stefano Pioli but the arrival of Youssouf Fofana is what seemed to push him down the pecking order and therefore towards the exit door.
The point being he plays even less there than he did at Milan?
Would like to see him as a starter. Makes it easier for us to get into dangerous attacking positions
I don’t regret at all not having Adli. I always thought of him as a so-so player with a ceiling, slow and defensively weak; also, irregular; capable of good performances but also capable of very bad ones.
He is a very nice guy, though, with good work ethics and passion for Milan (this resulted in his being a bit overrated by a segment of the Milan fan base); he is also very appreciated by his companions.
Given his true Milanista sentiments, I wish him well but I believe that indeed Fofana is a much better player.
I criticised Adli a lot last year and was not sorry to see him go but he was one of our few midfielders capable of hitting a cross-field pass.
Does Reijnders have a cross-field pass in him?
Genuine question as the only ones I have seen are when he kind of baloons a hospital pass to the Emerson or Calabria…..