He is undoubtedly the Milan player of the moment. Eight goals, "I love Cisse" and his first call-up to the senior national team. Few could have imagined that Alphadjo Cisse would establish himself at AC Milan in this way in such a short space of time. In fact, there were those who were not particularly happy with his signing back in January, for several reasons. Some of them were probably even understandable. But let us take things in order.
It is right to talk about the performances and goals that are bringing joy to the Rossoneri fans, but it is also important to know everything that lies behind them. In January 2026, Cisse seemed destined for PSV, with a one-way ticket. A phone call from Milan changed everything: the 2006-born player, who was playing on loan at Catanzaro from Verona, put everything on hold and wanted only the Rossoneri. The Devil convinced Verona with a fee of €8 million and convinced the player with the right development project, probably one of the very few successful ones in recent times. It was decided that he could remain on loan in Serie B, where he was beginning to find his feet, before joining the rest of the squad at Milanello at the end of the season. Everything was completed in a very short time: Moncada, who was Technical Director at the time, thought very highly of him, and Giorgio Furlani quickly finalised the operation with the ‘usual’ Busardò, the player's agent with his CAA Base agency.
The behind-the-scenes story that the MilanNews.it team revealed is that, during those final days of January, when Milan still seemed to have some ambitions of winning the Scudetto, Massimiliano Allegri reacted very badly to part of the budget being allocated to secure the young Cisse, who, moreover, would not arrive at the Rossoneri club for another six months. In January, the ex Juventus coach had asked for reinforcements of a completely different calibre, whereas the only arrival was Fullkrug on loan from West Ham. The transfer market seemed blocked, completely blocked, and a significant investment in a 2006-born player who had never set foot in Serie A had completely angered Allegri. The Livorno-born coach considered him, at most, a reinforcement for Milan Futuro and did not hesitate to let his frustration and negative feelings about the operation, which was eventually completed by CEO Furlani, become known.
On the one hand, the former Milan coach's attitude may also be understandable: in January, the Rossoneri were near the top of the table and were dreaming of a sensational Scudetto triumph. Allegri would have expected reinforcements for the immediate future, players who could compete straight away and give Inter a real challenge, which ultimately did not happen.
However, opposing the signing of a young player with potentially outstanding ability so strongly was not the right approach. It would have been important to find a middle ground. Cisse eventually arrived, and the additional six months on loan at Catanzaro, despite the serious injury, probably made all the difference in the world. Throwing yet another young player into the flames of a Milan side in confusion would have been the same old bloodbath. In May, Cardinale carried out a complete reset and wiped the slate clean. The head of RedBird then insisted that there must be increasingly greater care when handling young Rossoneri players. While Camarda and Comotto are still works in progress, Cisse's development, as well as that of Bartesaghi and Diawara, represents a clear break from the chaotic past of recent times.
Now, the 2006-born player has a shirt that he has proved he can wear, a coach who believes in him greatly (Amorim's summer declaration of "I love Cisse" is already part of history) and an owner who pays close attention to the development of young players. Clearly, Allegri, despite having his reasons, had got his assessment completely wrong. Cisse has everything it takes to become a truly important footballer and not merely a youngster with great potential. But judging by the way he speaks, the way he trains, in the summer, when he was working at Milanello to recover from his injury, he would stay and watch Amorim's work with the team to understand immediately what the coach wanted, and the way he plays, there is reason to be optimistic.
This was reported by Milannews.it.
