Mike Maignan and Rafa Leao are the leaders of AC Milan, who tomorrow morning will have their first training session under the orders of Massimiliano Allegri.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, it will be a crucial restart for the careers of both. The goalkeeper, with his contract expiring in 2026, is coming off a year with good saves, but also serious errors and must return to the levels of the past.
The winger, despite yet another season in double figures for goals and assists, is called to make the leap in quality, to be more consistent and decisive. It is not wrong to say that a significant portion of the ambitions of the 2025-26 version of the Rossoneri will depend on their performance.
Captain and deputy
In recent weeks, the sporting director Igli Tare and coach Allegri have spoken several times and at different times with the two.
From the conversations with the Frenchman and Portuguese, the manager and the coach have gained more than positive impressions, both from a footballing and human point of view. Both care about Milan, they want to do well and are determined to make an important contribution to the cause.
This is why they will be the ones to have the ranks of captain and vice captain. In the current squad, Rafa is first both in terms of seasons spent with the Rossoneri and in terms of appearances, but Mike wore the armband in 2024-25 and agreed to stay after the club rejected Chelsea’s courtship in June.
Therefore, he will be the one to wear it in the future. We will see if this ‘investiture’ will give the push to restart negotiations for a renewal, which a few months ago seemed fine but which now seems far away.
The need to perform
Of course, in the year leading up to the World Cup, Maignan knows that he needs to perform better. The arrival of Claudio Filippi as goalkeeping coach will give him new motivation and the former Juve player’s training methods will perhaps help him rediscover that physical brilliance.
Mike knows he can give much more and he wants to do it. For this reason, even if he doesn’t advertise it on social media, he has worked hard in recent weeks and those close to him assure that he is ready to return to the forefront.
And Leao? Rafa hasn’t had a summer of just relaxing either. On the contrary, he has documented his sessions on Instagram, also to make it clear that he intends to start strong. He respects Allegri and the way the coach spoke to him, the pivotal role he has outlined for him, have won him over.
He recently ran, sprinted and ‘caressed’ the ball for four days in Porto Cervo together with his half-brother Paulo Simão, a 16-year-old midfielder hired by Sporting: they are coached by Dario Marcolin, also on holiday in the area like Udogie, Petagna, Baschirotto and Colombo.
Leao had previously worked in Portugal and Brazil, other stops on his holidays filled with family, music and fashion. The next destination is Milanello because Bayern, who had thought of him, yesterday threw in the towel.
“An offer for Leao? No, absolutely not. The sporting director Max Eberl told me that there were contacts with Milan, but they were not fruitful and there was never any room for getting Leao,” explained president Hoeness to Bayerischer Rundfunk.
The market, therefore, for Rafa and Mike is a thing of the past. Allegri and Milan now want them at the top.
