A new head coach means a clean slate for all players, but unfortunately for some it also means that their spot in the squad is at risk and Paulo Fonseca has made it known that several current AC Milan squad members are not in his plans.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the main factors at play are the Champions League and Serie A squad lists – with exits needed to make room for new signings, or players risk being left out – and how adaptable current players are to Fonseca’s way of playing.
Rarely during a summer at Milanello has there been such a clear list of players not deemed up to scratch. Some were expressly spelled out by the management, others were easily understood from the call-ups (or lack of), while others were intuitable without too much effort.
The creation of Milan Futuro also played an important role, because Fonseca knows he can potentially fish from that group to fill various roles. Thus, with a week of the window left, we are at a situation where more players could leave.
Pierre Kalulu and Tommaso Pobega have already said goodbye while Yacine Adli and Ismael Bennacer could do so between now and the closing of the summer mercato. So why has their situation changed so much from one season to the next?
It’s partly a question of performance, and evidently last year’s performance levels were not deemed sufficient, and then it is partly the coach’s assessment of their potential contribution. The treatment room also certainly played an important part.
Let’s take Kalulu, for example: the Frenchman was sidelined for a good six months due to three separate injuries, and he understandably lost his way. There is no comparison with the safe and reliable centre-back who built the Scudetto wall with Fikayo Tomori.
