AC Milan boss Sergio Conceicao has conceded that he still doesn’t know if Youssouf Fofana will feature against Bologna in the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday night.
The 26-year-old was replaced after 28 minutes in our win over Genoa earlier this month, and he subsequently missed our victory over Bologna last Friday, with a view of hopefully recovering this week.
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Conceicao has previously revealed that it’s a foot issue bothering the French midfielder, and it had been hoped that he would be able to feature in Rome given how important his presence is in the side.
That was emphasised in our Serie A meeting with Bologna last week, as Milan lacked balance and physical presence in the middle of the pitch, and in turn, our upcoming opponents were able to bypass our midfield and attack an exposed backline.
Ideally, Fofana will return to the Milan starting line-up in midweek, but speaking to reporters at his pre-match press conference, Conceicao conceded that it’s still unclear if he will be available, albeit he is participating in training sessions and pushing to be in contention.
“We don’t know yet, I’m not bluffing,” Conceicao told the media, as per MilanNews. “He has a problem with his foot, let’s see if we can count on him 100% until the end. He’s done the last training sessions, it’s true, but this is a slightly particular problem. The doctors will be able to say it better. I hope to have him tomorrow like the whole group.
“We hope to have Youssouf tomorrow but the issue you told me about is not the reason why we suffered more in the previous match.”
Should Fofana fail to be passed fit enough to start, Milan will undoubtedly have to come up with an alternative solution to have more solidity in midfield, as an open, end-to-end game will suit Bologna, who showed us last time out that they can cause us problems in transition.
The Rossoneri also still have a very slim chance of qualifying for the Champions League and so there are three crunch games remaining in our season, time will tell if Fofana will be able to play a pivotal role in that run or not.