Sometimes unforeseen things happen within seasons that can open doors which previously seemed locked and bolted shut.
When Luka Modric collided heads with Manuel Locatelli during the 0-0 draw with Juventus on Sunday night, it quite literally brought Milan’s past and present face-to-face. It will also potentially give us a glimpse into the future, because the Croatian’s season is done.
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Reports from Croatia suggested that Modric had suffered a cheek fracture, which was always going to be bad news only a few weeks left to play and four games left on the 2025-26 Serie A schedule, especially with the main aim within reach.
Unfortunately, the ‘season-ending’ element of the injury has been confirmed by the club. In a statement published on Monday evening, the club admitted that the aim is getting Luka back for the World Cup.
“AC Milan announces that Luka Modrić underwent surgery today at the La Madonnina Clinic in Milan. Surgery was necessary to treat a complex, multi-fragment fracture of the left zygomatic bone.
“The operation, performed by Dr. Luca Autelitano’s team in the presence of AC Milan doctors Stefano Mazzoni and Andrea Bulgheroni, was a complete success. The Club wishes Luka a speedy recovery ahead of the FIFA World Cup!”
Ricci e poveri
This season has already seen various players benefit from opportunities that they perhaps did not expect to have. Look at Davide Bartesaghi, for example: he took the place of the then-injured Pervis Estupinan and never looked back, making the left wing-back role his.
The centre-backs have all been fighting it out amongst themselves too. Koni De Winter went up a place in the pecking order when Matteo Gabbia was out and largely did brilliantly, but now the Italian is back in and has barely put a foot wrong. The same applies to Fikayo Tomori, too.
Alexis Saelemaekers almost deserves a separate discussion, but his situation can be distilled down to not being deemed good enough for Milan in two straight seasons – being loaned to Bologna and Roma as a result – before returning and becoming crucial to Massimiliano Allegri’s plans.
With Modric sidelined, a spot literally in the heart of the Milan line-up has become available. There are two obvious candidates to take it, both of whom arrived last summer and both of whom have perhaps had a ‘difficult’ first year at the club.
Starting with Samuele Ricci, who arrived from Torino with all the promise and potential to be a fixture of the midfield for years to come. He was labelled as someone who could play in front of the defence or in a box-to-box role, combining work rate with technical ability.
The bad news for Ricci came later in the window, with the additions of Ardon Jashari and then Adrien Rabiot. That bumped him down the pecking order into a supporting role, and the fact he has only started 10 times this season in the league is a symbol of that.
There are probably games where Ricci could have made a solid case for starting over Youssouf Fofana, for example, to bring a bit more in possession. Equally, there are opportunities that the Italian got which he didn’t take, becoming a bystander in certain appearances.
The former Torino captain spoke before the derby last month about his adaptation to life at Milan, and he was questioned on whether Allegri wants to eventually use him as a regista.
“I don’t know, you’d have to ask him. I think he sees me as a midfielder now, and that’s what the team needs. Luka and Jashari are doing really well in the middle. Either way, it’s the same for me. I just need to play and come on to contribute to the team.”
Meanwhile, back in January the coach was asked a question about Ricci’s position during a press conference, and he made it clear where he sees him best at present.
“As for Ricci, I’m very happy with how he’s developing; he’s a very intelligent player. Right now, the mezz’ala role suits him best; he’s able to move vertically and shoot on goal. Maybe in the future he could be an excellent defensive player, but right now that role suits him better.
So, Ricci is just behind Jashari in the starting grid in the race to replace Modric, or so it feels. However, he will almost certainly get minutes as a deep-lying playmaker in the final four games and it is up to him to make the most of that opportunity.
The €37m man
Then we come to Ardon Jashari, a man who has had a complicated apprenticeship in year one at Milan after his big-money move, to put it lightly. The injury suffered back in August did not help things, yet he has been fully fit for a while now and remains barely seen, especially from the start.
In fact, Jashari has made just four starts in Serie A out of 11 total appearances. His minutes clocked reads 491, which is the lowest of any of the outfield players in the squad, even less than Niclas Füllkrug and Santiago Gimenez.
Again, this is largely down to missing a few months because of the leg fracture, though there have been some worrying signs in the past few weeks regarding exactly where Allegri sees him.
For example, in the last four games he played 10 minutes vs. Juventus, zero vs. Verona, 18 vs. Udinese and zero vs. Napoli. His last full 90 was on March 15, a defeat to Lazio in which he struggled. In five of the last 10 games he has been an unused substitute, and only once has he played more than a half.
What is equally strange in terms of trend though is the results Milan have had in Jashari’s 14 appearances across all competitions. There are five wins (vs. Bari in the Coppa Italia, plus Verona, Como, Lecce and Bologna), but three draws (Fiorentina, Como and Juventus) and five defeats (Cremonese, Lazio in the Coppa, Napoli in the Supercoppa, Parma, Lazio and Udinese).
There has been a lot of talk about Milan’s over-dependency on Rabiot this season given the change in average points pace with and without the ‘Crazy Horse’. The unfortunate flip side to that is it means that the average isn’t great when Jashari (or Ricci) starts in his place.
It may have only been a small glimpse, but we have seen something from Jashari, namely when he stole the show against Como at home. Many presumed it would be the first in a run of many starts and that he might even get the right midfield spot.
The ex-Brugge midfielder had 97% pass completion, 3 chances created, 10 passes into final third, 6/6 on long balls, 4 recoveries, 2 tackles and 1 gorgeous assist in that game against Como. He started the next game against Parma but came off after 74 minutes.
There is an incredibly slim chance that Milan will give up on Jashari after one season, especially one so obviously affected by his serious injury and recovery. In fact, Matteo Moretto suggested in an update on Thursday that they want to develop him further, potentially making him a fully-fledged starter.
What Modric brings to this Milan team has been there for all to see. Allegri put him at the centre of his tactical plans, banking on his leadership, experience and of course his quality in both phases, to shield the defence and be the lynchpin for attacking play too.
Nobody could realistically ask Jashari nor Ricci to step in at short notice and perform a difficult role to Ballon d’Or levels, given how much bigger Modric’s metaphorical boots are than the size 43 boots that he actually wears.
However, if one or both of the Swiss and the Italian can show even a bit of the same repertoire, they might prove to Allegri and the management that the midfield ‘revolution’ touted needn’t be so extreme. Otherwise, when the time comes, not having Modric will produce much more painful withdrawal symptoms.
I don’t think Ricci is it. But let’s try Jashari and maybe even Fofana in that role. Curious how he does.
It’s the role Fofana wants to play. He has said so himself.
How many stories like this (especially Ricci’s but Ardon’s too) do we need to experience? It hurts me to say that but Ricci doesn’t have any single extraordinary trait, he’s not on AC Milan’s level.
Indeed. He doesn’t excel in anything.
Exactly.
He’s a kid, people said the same thing about Pirlo before he found his feet.
What do you mean?! He’s not a kid, he will be 25 this year! We got Pirlo when he was 22 years old, that’s not the same case.
I dont know man. He can be a solid contributor imho. Back in the day (showing a glimpse of my age). A lot of fans said the same thing about Ambrosini. In a squad with Gatusso, Pirlo, Seedorf etc, Ambrosini felt (and was to be fair) a step down from every other midfielder. BUT given the amount of games, he proved to be a solid, reliable, no fuzz contributor. I see a similar thing with Ricci. He was afterall Torino’s captain. He doesnt complain, works hard, plays well, if unspectacular, . A solid contributor.
But we’re lacking all the gattusos, pirlos and seeforfs currently… We simply need better/more-ready players now to be able to compete in Europe.
A solid but nothing more than that, that’s the thing. He could turn out to be useful every now and then but I don’t see him as a starter.
Hopefully, nobody would expect them do a 10/10 even Modric hasn’t been all that for half the matches he played. I hope they’d be rated and judged objectively when they play.
If Jashari isn’t given a chance now, then he never will be.
💯
they are both still young and developing.. let’s give them the confidence they need.. just as barte did.. nothing is impossible
Fofana doesn’t need to be the central midfielder. Just like Gatusso, he can be the first line of defense for the center backs. Then the register dictates the play just like Pirlo did. But fofana is told to move so high up the pitch that he is now useless in attempting to do what he can never do- to be scoring. He has no dribbling skills, shooting, dummies, nothing. Ricci can do the register role. When the team moves forward with Ricci and rabbit, fora8 has to have the thought of been the DM. Will allegri hear me?
“Will allegri hear me?”
LOL! He can’t even hear his own staff. Stubborn as h3ll.