Despite being one of the best performers in preseason, Samuele Ricci is finding it hard to get starts so far in 2025-26.
As Tuttosport (via MilanPress) write this morning, Ricci’s role hasn’t been discussed much in recent weeks. Despite his arrival bringing excitement collectively, the former Torino player now suddenly finds himself a question mark for both Milan and the Italian national team.
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A battle to win
The paper describes the situation as ‘uphill’. His excellent debut against Bari was then followed by a benching against Cremonese (no minutes at all) and Lecce (coming off the bench), resulting in Gennaro Gattuso not calling him up. This is despite the fact he was impressive in the friendlies.
On paper he was supposed to be Milan’s regista, but when you have Luka Modric in your squad Allegri can be forgiven for relying on the Ballon d’Or winner to distribute the ball, at least up until this point.
Who could forget Ardon Jashari, another sizeble investment? Now, unfortunately for Ricci, the mezzala role is also occupied. The arrival of Adrien Rabiot is considered so important that the Frenchman is immediately put in the starting spot.
For Ricci , it will now be important to capitalise on his opportunities, but the Rossoneri only have one game a week, and the midfield is facing a lot of high-level competition. Meanwhile, Ricci is working calmly and intensely at Milanello, to earn back his spot.
Classic Allegri.
Remove Loftus Cheat from Midfielder, to number 9.
umjesto Riccija trebalo je uzer Leonija a umjesto Jašarija vrhunskog desnog beka !! Musah je trebao ostat kao i Abraham !! Imamo predobar srednji red i jako lošu obranu !!!!
AC Expensive Backups
I really hoped he could establish himself and give the side a bit of an identity.
I’m not sure why he hasn’t stated yet but him, Modric + 1 makes the most sense.
We’re so rich we can afford €20-30M back up mids, but so poor that we have one striker, so Leão is now our striker.
Well done RedBird.
Lol facts
This is the reason why I was against signing Modric. People here said Modric would be a player who would not be starting and going off the bench. I argued a lot with people here that Ricci would suffer and struggle to get minutes as long Modric is in the team. Well, seems like I won that debate.
Fofana should be sold and there’s no reason to start him over Ricci and Jashari. Milan spent 60m on these 2 players only to be on the bench. LMAO.
Only at Milan. Smh
So, don’t sign the better player just so the lesser player can play?
Only at Milan. SMH.
Everyone knew that Modric will start because even at 40 he is still better than most of the midfielders in serie A, something that we saw in the 1st 2 games.
Jashari was going to start but he got injured. He isn’t sitting on the bench.
Modric is better than Ricci though, right?
That’s the Milan way now….Chuk and Musah are proof of this as well.
Plus now we have Max who loves to play his faves and if it’s an oldie or a dodo like Montolivo we’ll be seeing that player every game
Mancity, realmadrid, barcelona, man utd also have same problem with backups players
So you wanted Milan to pass on Modric who is a world class player because of Ricci?
60M on two central midfielders the coach doesn’t want – classic!
That said, Modric won’t play 90M each week, Jashari is out for months and we know part of RLC will snap like a twig in a week or two, so he’ll get some minutes; no doubt far fewer than promised though.
Meanwhile Fofana continues to start even after being underwhelming every single game and kicking field goals every time he shoots.
Why is everyone panicking? Modric is 40yrs old and will certainly not play every match and will not be at Milan very long. Ricci will get more than enough playing time and I view him as a possible near term and long term solution. Milan need depth, strong players off the bench are needed to get to the CL next season.
For starters Modrić is not a regista and that hinders his true skills. He should be played as an advanced playmaker. Even in Madrid he played alongside true regista Kroos.
Right now Rabiot – Ricci – Modrić is our best midfield option but we’ll never see this trio lined up together because they’re the only ones capable of filling each other’s spots. Then there are two NFL quarterbacks Fofana and RLC.
Isn’t the quarterback the player that passes the ball around to the rest of the players on the field?
So that analogy would only fit Modric on this Milan team, not RLC, not Ricci, and maybe to a certain level Fofana and Rabiot.
Allegri and Gattuso do not believe that Ricci is currently the best option though, remember he is on/coming off the Milan bench and not called to the national team for these important matches. He will get his chances though. The season is long.
No matter how instrumental Modric is even at 40, Ricci is the future, not Modric. Max would be wise to keep that in mind. He needs to see if Modric and Ricci can start together.
I’d try Ricci as the 6, put on Rabiot and push Modric close to the front three.
We have a 150 million dollar striker in Leao.
Just play Modric as AM and problem solved