Ruben Loftus-Cheek has failed a late fitness test and is now expected to miss the game against Fiorentina completely.
On the eve of the game, it was already known that Massimiliano Allegri would have to deal with a swathe of injury issues. Christian Pulisic, Adrien Rabiot, Pervis Estupinan, Christopher Nkunku and Ardon Jashari will all be absent for various reasons.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
Late last night, news broke claiming that Loftus-Cheek could also be forced to sit out of the fixture. He complained about some muscle discomfort in the final training session and it has been diagnosed as fatigue, with a late fitness test to come on the day of the game.
According to MilanNews, the Englishman is not even fit enough to take a spot on the bench, which suggests that the check-up this morning did not go well. In his place, Alexis Saelemaekers will operate behind Rafael Leao, and Zachary Athekame will come in at right-back.
Given that Milan had just 19 outfield players to begin the season, having six injuries at once is nothing short of a nightmare. Allegri spoke about there not being any excuses because he has ‘enough players’ to send out there, but it certainly compromises the plans.
his always injured man . if this injury takes more than a month – imo sell him.
Salemaekers as a withdrawn striker? The article seems to imply that. I was expecting Rafa and Gimenez up top.
You haven’t been paying attention. In Allegri’s 3-5-2, Leao and Gimenez play the same role, that is, they’re “no. 9s”, while Nkunku and Pulisic play the support/second striker role. Additionally, it seems Gimenez has returned with his own fatigue issues, so he’s starting from the bench. It’s likely he’ll come on some time in the second half, and I’m betting it’s for Salad, or for Athekame with Salad moving back into his usual spot. We have basically zero subs in midfield except for possibly Balentien or de Winter if Allegri uses him as an emergency central midfielder.
So… who do we have on our bench for tonight ?
Might have to call up some primavera
RLC is a good player whose career has been blighted by injury. Time to move him on this summer so that younger more promising players like Ricci and Jashari get more playing time. Thank you for your service RLC.
Yep… This tracks.
maybe only my feeling, but he seems to be always injured when we really need him, and available when we have enough depth. Jovic and Okafor were the same.
Come on RLC…my goodness man…just when things were looking good. This international break has been a disaster for Milan.