Sky journalist Peppe Di Stefano has revealed an interesting story about Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah after they returned to Italy in the last 24 hours.
It is just two days until the Derby della Madonnina between Inter and Milan. On Saturday at 18:00 CEST the two teams leading Serie A with full points after the first three rounds will take to the pitch at San Siro.
Milan’s penultimate training session before the game saw the return of Olivier Giroud to the group, who should therefore be considered recovered from his ankle injury and in line for a starting spot.
Sky correspondent Peppe Di Stefano took stock of Milan ‘s penultimate training session and revealed something about the mentality of two players, with his comments relayed by Radio Rossonera.
“Good news for Milan: Olivier Giroud worked with the team today, he has fully recovered. It was up in the air, but for days we had been telling you that he would return,” he began.
“48 hours away, but in reality just one training session away from the derby, we list him among the starters. Then we will understand the condition of his right ankle over time, over the days or during the match. But for now he is recovered.
“I met him here between Sunday and Monday when, despite the national team being there, he continued to work with physiotherapy treatments.
“I told you about Giroud’s smile and Kalulu’s non-smile. That’s exactly what happened today. Giroud in the group, Kalulu on the other hand…
“Personally, when a player is still apart from derby training after 8 days of differentiated work, I obviously don’t put him among the available players.
“At the moment the central pairing should be Kjaer-Thiaw. Definitely an unprecedented pair, especially in a derby. Milan’s fastest interpreter is certainly missing, namely Tomori, and the other player who with Tomori was the revelation of the Scudetto year is missing: Pierre Kalulu.
“For the rest, the team is totally at Pioli’s disposal. I’ll tell you a detail just to make it clear what is the mentality not only of the players but in particular of the Americans who play for Milan.
“Yesterday Musah and Pulisic arrived at Malpensa from the USA at 4.30am, obviously after a very long flight. They should have done a cool-down today and worked with the squad tomorrow.
“Yesterday, however, they wanted to come directly to Milanello from Malpensa and carried out cool-down work. That was preparatory to returning to the group today, one day earlier than the pre-established program.
“For the rest, I believe there will be no changes to the lineup apart from, obviously, the central defender given Tomori’s disqualification.”
Pulisic is a classy dude. I’m Italian-American and I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, supporting the USMNT, and while I’m no Chelsea fan, I did follow his career there and his victory at the UCL with Chelsea; the first American to win the UCL final. I was so happy when he was signed by Milan! I am not surprised that Pulisic and Musah have a positive attitude. I love their enthusiasm for the team! Forza Pulisic; I hope you score against Inter. Forza Musah!
The point about their long return flight to Milan triggered the hope that one day I might catch Pulisic going from the USA to Milan-Malpensa after a FIFA date. From time to time I fly to Milan to watch our team at San Siro. I always fly business class. These days most airplanes no longer have a first class; it’s business and economy. I’d assume Pulisic flies business. I’d love to chat with him if I’m lucky enough to be on the same plane.