AC Milan will begin their 2026-27 pre-season on Monday, meaning Ruben Amorim will finally lead a training session as the head coach of the Rossoneri.
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It has been almost a month since Milan announced Amorim as their new head coach. A lot has happened since, from the new management to a couple of signings made, but now the Portuguese international will finally begin his adventure.
Indeed, the first day of pre-season (also known as the Raduno) is scheduled for Monday, July 13. The players will gather for the physical tests in the morning, and then the actual training session will take place in the afternoon. Below is everything you need to know about the pre-season.
The squad for the pre-season
On Sunday afternoon, Amorim and Milan announced the squad for the first day of the pre-season. It will also be the squad for the first week at least, after which there may be some additions from signings and those who have been involved in international duty.
Goalkeepers: Bouyer, Pittarella, Terracciano, Torriani.
Defenders: Athekame, Bartesaghi, Gabbia, Gila, Karaca, Odogu, Pavlovic, F. Terracciano, Tomori.
Midfielders: Cisse, Comotto, Fofana, Loftus-Cheek, Musah, Ossola, Ricci.
Forwards: Camarda, Chukwueze, Guernier, Kostic, Nkunku, Yayha Idrissi.
Warren Bondo and Ismael Bennacer have both been excluded as transfers are on the cards, but until then, they will work with a fitness coach at Milanello. One surprising exclusion is Kevin Zeroli, who will be with the Futuro squad instead.
Some of the youngsters to keep an eye on are Francesco Camarda, Alphadjo Cisse, and Christian Comotto, as Amorim has confirmed that he will monitor these in training. They all have a chance of being a part of the first-team squad for this season.
An extra eye should perhaps also be put on the new signings, Aurelien Guernier and Andrej Kostic, who are both eager to fight for a spot in the first team (more likely for the latter).
The friendlies scheduled
As always tends to be the case, Milan have a pretty packed summer in terms of friendlies, not necessarily because of the number of games but also the distances they will travel. There is a derby against Inter in Australia, for example, while they will also face Chelsea in Indonesia.
- July 25: Celtic-Milan in Glasgow, Scotland
- August 5: Milan-Inter in Perth, Australia
- August 8: Chelsea-Milan in Jakarta, Indonesia
- August 15: Man Utd-Milan in Wroclaw, Poland
These are all very good challenges for Amorim’s side, especially since he won’t have all of the key players at his disposal. Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot, given their World Cup journey, likely won’t be part of the trip to the Far East at all.
Having said that, since the teams are all of high quality, Milan won’t be alone in missing some of the stars. Besides, the pre-season games never have the same competitive edge; it’s more about gaining fitness than showcasing tons of quality.
It’s possible that another friendly could be added to the list, but then it will likely be against a lower-level side. We have Milan face a Serie C team at Milanello in previous years, in preparation for the pre-season tour, so that could be the case again.
Main tasks for Amorim
For Amorim, the pre-season will obviously be very important. It has been made clear by him, and others at the club, that time will be needed to get the system in place. Making sure that the players can adapt to his ideas will thus be the key focus of the summer.
It might look like there won’t be many changes, since Milan will continue with a three-man backline, but it’s actually a radical difference compared to the football of Massimiliano Allegri. It’s something we have covered in the tactical analysis pieces for Amorim (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3).
I highly encourage you to take a look at those articles if you want to learn more about how Milan will play this season. I certainly cannot do the matter justice, but Rohit has done a brilliant job explaining the key concepts and much more.
Furthermore, as alluded to above, Amorim wants to test the players at his disposal. There are quite a lot of question marks right, such as Samuel Chukwueze who easily could have a spot in the team if things go well. Yunus Musah is another one, even if that might frustrate some fans.
The youngsters mentioned above can certainly be highlighted here too, seeing as they are actually capable of competing for the spots. Camarda learned a lot during his time on loan at Lecce, so did Comotto at Spezia, and Cisse impressed massively with Catanzaro.
In the same vein, the pre-season will be used to identify potential needs, i.e. what Milan might need to improve before the start of the season. Amorim will probably spot something, I’m sure of it, and that could result in some movement on the mercato.
Then again, Amorim has made it clear that Milan need to evaluate what they already have first, before running out and buying a player for a certain position. That’s certainly a wise approach, as the Portuguese coach might like someone that Allegri didn’t.
Curva Sud will not be present
The first day of the pre-season, or the Raduno in Italian, is usually a day of celebrations. However, in 2024 and 2025, the Curva Sud opted not to attend and that inevitably dampened the atmosphere a little bit. Sadly, they have decided not to attend this year either.
It’s easy to make this sound more dramatic than it is, but after all, they haven’t been present in recent years. There will be other fans at the training ground, though, so the players will still have a group to wave to and to sign autographs for.