And in the end, it has arrived. Milan’s first serious injury of the season is to Alexis Saelemaekers. The Belgian’s right-ankle problem has turned out to be much worse than initially expected and will force him to undergo surgery next week, ruling him out for at least four months of the season. Yesterday, however, Ruben Amorim received further bad news from Ecuador: Pervis Estupiñán was injured while on international duty. As a result, the Portuguese coach has lost his entire left flank in one go in the new 4-2-3-1 system seen against Lecce and, inevitably, he will be forced to reshape his starting XI as early as the away trip to Sassuolo when the team returns from the international break.
Regarding the full-back, Estupinan:
A statement from the Ecuadorian Football Federation revealed early in the afternoon the extent of Estupiñán’s injury: "A knee injury sustained during the match against Japan: subsequent diagnostic imaging tests revealed a knee sprain with discomfort on the inner side." In simple terms, his absence on Sunday against Sassuolo is certain; after that, it remains to be seen. In his place, if Amorim decides to keep the 4-2-3-1, the natural choice would be Davide Bartesaghi, who has been featuring prominently in recent days with Italy Under-21s. It is difficult to imagine any other experiments in the immediate future, such as moving Pavlovic out wide or using the young Diawara, as pointed out via 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' in this morning's print edition.
What about Saelemakers?
As mentioned, Amorim will also have to think about a replacement for Saelemaekers, regarding whom the club issued an official statement in the afternoon. "Over the weekend, Alexis Saelemaekers underwent further tests on his right ankle, the same ankle that was operated on in 2024 to treat a medial malleolus fracture,” Milan explained in a statement. "Medical examinations showed that, following the recent injury suffered in training, the ankle has lost stability at the site of the previous surgery. In light of the results of the tests, a specialist assessment is currently taking place to determine the most appropriate course of treatment."
Shortly afterwards, it emerged that the only possible course of treatment is surgery. Saelemaekers will not be seen again until 2027.
Amorim will therefore have to find a long-term solution. Here too, the natural choice would be Diego Moreira, who is in excellent form after scoring in three consecutive Serie A matches for Milan and earning a starting place for Belgium. A tactical question, however, arises: can the Rossoneri sustain, from the opening whistle, the simultaneous presence of a centre-forward (Ramos), two attacking wingers (Chukwueze and Moreira), an attacking midfielder/second striker (Pulisic), and a relatively lightweight midfielder such as Modric?
Another option would be even more attack-minded, with the young talent Cisse replacing either Moreira or Chukwueze. But in Italy, balance on the pitch has to be taken into account. That is why it would be far from surprising to see Milan line up with Rabiot deployed wide on the left and Jashari (or Musah) brought into midfield, or alternatively return to a 3-4-2-1 with Bartesaghi as a wing-back and Loftus-Cheek in the attacking-midfield role.
These are all ideas that Amorim will be forced to work on this week ahead of Sassuolo-Milan on Sunday at 6 p.m. It will be the first stage of a demanding run of seven matches in 20 days, which will end on Halloween with the derby and will reveal a great deal about the Rossoneri’s season.
