AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli will be without Rafael Leao for Saturday night’s game against Fiorentina and is studying how best to replace him.
Corriere dello Sport (via PianetaMilan) recall that Leao picked up a yellow card in Sunday’s win over Atalanta which meant he hit five for the season and thus was given his second suspension of the current campaign.
There are several options under consideration to replace him for the trip to face Fiorentina at the weekend, and the most obvious one is the use of Ante Rebić. He is Leao’s natural replacement in terms of role and position on the pitch but he has been expectations since last year.
This season he has scored 3 goals and provided 2 assists in 15 appearances in Serie A. Now, however, he seems ready to give his contribution in a stadium he knows well having played for Fiorentina in the 2013-14 season and in 2015-16.
With the new 3-4-2-1 formation, however, Pioli might also want to try something different. For example, Charles De Ketelaere could be used as a second striker just as he was for most of last season at Club Brugge when he scored 14 goals in the Belgian top flight.
The third option under consideration by Pioli to replace Leao is the use of Divock Origi as a second striker alongside Olivier Giroud, as seen in the derby on 5 February without much success.
The fourth option to starting Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but this seems a remote idea as he only played a few minutes on Sunday in his return after eight months.
