The past week was filled with controversy within the Rossoneri camp, fuelled by reports of the extended holidays for Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot, as well as the four players who have been excluded from the squad. Ruben Amorim, however, has put the record straight: first on the pitch, with a convincing victory in the final friendly against Manchester United, and then in front of the microphones, with a couple of statements that clarified the issues mentioned above.
On the subject, Amorim did not wait for questions from the journalists, instead addressing the matter himself:
“Rabiot, Modric and Maignan had more days off because they played more. That was important to me. Everyone complains about the number of matches and the fact that players cannot cope with the amount of fatigue, and I gave those players those extra days because I already knew they would not be able to play today's match. So, I gave them another three days. Nothing will change. And for me, it is really important to say that it was my decision, not the players'. They want to train. Tomorrow they will be at Milanello preparing for the first match. They had a complete programme and followed it, because we have evidence that they did. So I want this to be really clear, because I think it is important," as relayed via Milannews.it.
Amorim also clarified his decision to leave Nkunku, Tomori, Fofana and Odogu out of his technical project:
"All four of them did really well during pre-season, but we have to make choices. We are changing things, and I think it is important to make real changes at this moment because we are at the beginning of a project. We have some young players who will get opportunities, and I have to create space for them. I still want to emphasise that they did really well during pre-season. But, as I told you when we returned from Jakarta, we have to prepare for the season. And with almost 40 players, it is impossible to prepare properly. So I feel sorry for the players, but we have to do it."
