Seven months ago it seemed as though Yacine Adli would have to find somewhere else to play, but now he has become a crucial part of Stefano Pioli’s plans at AC Milan.
As this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, there are two new starters in town and if you look closely, they resemble two players who back in July perhaps didn’t even have a place in the pecking order at all.
Football is a land of opportunities and sometimes everything happens quickly: Matteo Gabbia and Yacine Adli were destined to play this season elsewhere, but on the last day of February they are preparing to start tomorrow’s match against Lazio.
How did it happen? Well, for Gabbia it is a different story, but Adli’s is more a lesson in not giving up and believing in your ability to contribute to the cause after a very difficult first season with the Rossoneri.
Having been signed from Bordeaux and then immediately sent back on loan, Adli then spent last season barely featuring at all for the Rossoneri.
Many assumed that he would be shipped out in the summer either on loan or permanently, but he has stayed and fought for a place in the team and now seems to be a player that Pioli trusts.
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He started over Tijjani Reijnders against Atalanta, because Pioli said he has ‘more suitable characteristics’ and he should get the nod from the first minute against Lazio. Five days of rest are more than enough: Pioli will field the best team.
In just over six months, it marks a U-turn. Adli, in July, was told that Milan would change and there would be no place for him. He pretended not to hear and resisted, so Pioli gave him a half opening on tour in the United States, unlike what was done with Origi, Rebic and Saelemaekers.
Adli did the rest: he became Rade Krunic’s deputy and did not prove sensitive to the interests of Eintracht Frankfurt and other clubs. On September 1, at the Olimpico before Roma-Milan, Pioli told him that he was happy to have him.
Tomorrow Adli will face Lazio in the same stadium, the team against whom he played for the first time as a starter at San Siro.
