Malick Thiaw’s emergence in the last three games has generated plenty of understandably positive headlines, but also some question marks regarding a couple of the other summer signings.
MilanNews writes how Aster Vranckx and Yacine Adli are still struggling for the chance to showcase their ability despite Thiaw proving that the summer signings can contribute. The two are not competing for the same role and both play in departments that have struggled, yet continue not to be called upon.
The Belgian is a central midfielder by trade who has a good technical ability, and is the identikit of the player most similar to Franck Kessiè who departed last summer, yet he has 7 appearances and a total use of 70 minutes.
On the other hand, Adli has shown his vision and creativity both in the summer friendlies and in those after the World Cup, waiting for Serie A to return. In Bordeaux he was one of the leading men in a struggling side despite being 21 then, yet with the Rossoneri he has 4 appearances for a total of 114 minutes and his last appearance dates back to the game against Hellas Verona last October.
Of course something to keep in mind is that Stefano Pioli sees the players in training on a daily basis and talks to them, so there will be technical and tactical reasons for not giving them much time, but the same was true with Thiaw before he got his break and begun to thrive.
The injury to Ismael Bennacer makes it even stranger that Vranckx has struggled to find playing time in the last month, to the extent that even Tiemoue Bakayoko was preferred against Monza having not played for 279 days.
