Stefano Pioli will have to come up with a solution ahead of the game against Napoli in one week given that Rafael Leao will not be available.
Ante Rebic probably will not make the game as Pioli himself admitted, so Olivier Giroud is left hoping that Divock Origi will recover to allow him to get a break. Marko Lazetic too is also out injured at the moment and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is unavailable until 2023.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, one solution at the moment involves playing Charles De Ketelaere out wide, but when he has played on the wing it has been more on the right side and Pioli also made it clear that he is at ease when he starts from a central position. Brahim Diaz could therefore adapt and play on the left, as he did when Hakan Calhanoglu also started towards the end of the 2020-21 season.
Another option is for Pioli to turn to his trusted utility man Rade Krunic, with the Bosnian having already played there. He is currently working along after a muscle problem but should be available on Wednesday in the Champions League and therefore – with a full week of work – the hypothesis is feasible.
Finally, there is a third option to think about, and that is to move Alexis Saelemaekers to the right. Like Krunic, the Belgian has already held that role, with mixed results.
