AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli received positive news as our work in Dubai during the World Cup break continues this week.
The Rossoneri were in action against Arsenal in a friendly on Tuesday as we maintain our fitness and gradually build towards a return to action against Salernitana on January 4.
With meetings with Liverpool and PSV to come before the end of the year, Pioli will hope to have as close to a fully fit squad as possible at his disposal in order to put together a strong run of form in the second half of the season.
There was good news on Wednesday as per Antonio Vitiello, who reported that Mike Maignan continued work in the gym before returning to the grass to do some ball work, albeit without pushing it too much and thus risking any setbacks.
That’s important progress for the Frenchman, and so it’s hoped that he continues on that path now to ensure he’s ready to return next year.
Meanwhile, Vitiello adds that Davide Calabria is also stepping up his recovery as he joined the rest of the group for training before resuming personalised work as he ramps up his comeback push, while Charles De Ketelaere is now back with the squad and will hope to get up to speed as soon as possible.
Having Calabria back will be a major boost to shore things up in the right-back role, with his experience and energy sorely missed since he was sidelined.
As for De Ketelaere, things haven’t gone to plan since his summer move despite a promising start, and so it’s important for him to now get a good few weeks of training behind him heading into the restart.
It’s also reported that Messias Junior is still training on his own while Rafael Leao met up with his teammates but will remain on holiday after his exploits for Portugal at the World Cup.
There’s positive news in that though as Milan will hope to get some important work done in the coming weeks, as we have a real challenge on our hands in Serie A as we look to overturn an eight-point deficit to leaders Napoli with 15 games already gone.