AC Milan will resume Serie A on January 4 against Salernitana. But unfortunately, right now there are quite a few absences in the roster of Stefano Pioli, especially in the attacking department given Origi's conditions, Ibrahimovic's injury and Olivier Giroud who must have some rest and breathing room after playing the World Cup and reaching the final with the France national team.
La Gazzetta dello Sport remind us of the words that Stefano Pioli entrusted to them in a recent interview as he admits that he might choose to go with Belgian versatile attacking midfielder Charles De Ketelaere as a centre-forward. Here are his words (read full interview here):
"De Ketelaere as a striker? Yes, it’s possible even in the next few matches, thinking about the types of opponents we’ll meet. We’ll find many defenses lined up in fives, not giving references could be the solution and he has these qualities. In general, he has a whole group at his disposal to help him understand situations and the environment. Now it will be up to me to know when to push or when to preserve him. He will come, I’m sure: the experience at the World Cup did him good even if he played little, just as being with his family did him good: he came back a lot calmer. He will have his space."
Pioli tried to work on it in his retreat in Dubai: now it's time for Charles De Ketelaere to redeem himself and really show his real qualities.