AC Milan begin the new Serie A season away at Bologna on Monday night, and Stefano Pioli is set to unveil his new-look squad.
The Rossoneri secured fourth-place in the standings last season while we also enjoyed a run to the Champions League semi-finals, but that masked the need for a rebuild of a squad that was lacking an ability to showcase consistent quality.
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Having struggled with the same issues for too long, significant changes were made over the summer, and we’re expected to see a number of our new signings make their competitive debuts in our first league outing of the campaign.
While Pioli and the squad have of course had time over pre-season to build understanding and chemistry, the Milan boss will still need to get the balance right in the early stages of the season, as integrating too many new faces at one time could create an imbalance.
However, based on the predicted line-up this week, it looks as though we’ll see a few debuts, and a much stronger bench that we’ve been used to in recent times.
Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders, Pulisic to make competitive Milan debuts
Mike Maignan will start between the posts, with a back-four consisting of Davide Calabria, Malick Thiaw, Fikayo Tomori and Theo Hernandez ahead of him.
Pierre Kalulu had been tipped to start at right-back earlier in the week, and so it remains to be seen if the Frenchman gets the nod instead of Calabria on that side, with either offering a solid defensive option with an ability to push forward if needed too or to tuck inside and provide cover.
With Ismael Bennacer still sidelined by injury and new signing Yunus Musah suspended, a midfield three of Tijjani Reijnders, Rade Krunic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is expected to start, and that trio should hopefully give us an ideal balance in that area of the pitch as we look for control of tempo and possession, but with the ability to probe and unlock the Bologna defence.
Up front, Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao are likely to provide support on the flanks for Olivier Giroud who will continue to lead the line. It’s an exciting time to see how that trident will work together, as we hope that with the inclusion of Pulisic we can be a more consistent and dynamic threat than what we saw from other options last season.
Importantly, Pioli will also have depth on the bench to impact the game if needed, with new recruits Noah Okafor, Samuel Chukwueze and Luka Romero set to be on the sidelines, while we have alternative options elsewhere too as we look to make a positive start to the new year.
Milan’s business in the transfer market is said to still be ongoing as we continue to be linked with further new signings, and while we can expect more outgoings too, the new-look squad being built has provided a renewed sense of optimism and belief that we can compete at the top again this season.
