Milan still without full-backs, so Allegri must improvise in pre-season
Milan are set to begin a pre-season tour of Asia and Australia with only two full-backs in the squad, so Alexis Saelemaekers and Tommaso Pobega are having to fill the gaps.
It was never a secret that the areas they needed to revamp this summer were primarily at right-back and left-back, as Theo Hernandez was sold to Al-Hilal, while Kyle Walker, Davide Calabria and Alessandro Florenzi were let go at the end of their contracts.
Finding replacements has proved to be tricky, taking far longer than new director of sport Igli Tare would’ve wanted.
With that in mind, coach Max Allegri is having to improvise ahead of the friendlies against Arsenal and Liverpool.
Milan missing players in key roles
The only available full-backs in the whole squad are Alex Jimenez and Davide Bartesaghi, so La Gazzetta dello Sport outline that Allegri is planning on some experiments.
Saelemaekers returns to base from his loan experience at Roma, and is probably the most suited to that wide role, playing primarily in a more advanced version of it in midfield or a trident attack.
The Belgium international can also work on the right or left, making him a valuable addition to the squad.
Another option is a little more unusual, as Pobega is a central midfielder by trade who spent last season on loan at Bologna.
It is not entirely out of nowhere, because Pobega already played at left-back during another friendly tournament in Dubai in 2022, a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.
This also might be his final contribution in the Milan jersey, seeing as he is expected to make a return to Bologna on a permanent basis for €7m rather than the original €12m option to buy.
The worry for Allegri is that Milan start their season early in the Coppa Italia against Bari on August 17 and still seem nowhere near finding new full-backs.
The latest reports put them €10m off the €28m asking price for Strasbourg’s Guela Doué, while they lost out on Archie Brown to Fenerbahce.