GdS: The winners and losers in the Milan squad if Allegri were to return

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·11 de março de 2025

GdS: The winners and losers in the Milan squad if Allegri were to return

AC Milan seem to be giving serious thought to bringing Max Allegri back as the head coach, and it would have an obvious impact on various players.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) report this morning, the current idea is to proceed with the ‘Italianisation’ of Milan in the summer, which means hiring Allegri as the new manager and Fabio Paratici as the sporting director.

Vídeos OneFootball

If this were the future, who would benefit in the squad and who would see their stock drop, due to their technical characteristics or character issues? The paper has made some predictions.

The foundation

Allegri’s football starts with a physical and solid defense. You can say anything about his style, but the fact that he knows how to build a wall at the back and enhance the qualities of his central defenders is an established fact.

He has not only done it with Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini either. Under him Bremer became a pillar of Juventus, Gatti reached the national team and Danilo experienced a second youth. In his first cycle at Juve, Allegri always finished with the best defence in the league.

Milan, on the other hand, have let in too many goals since their Scudetto seaon. Whether he uses a three-man defence like in his Juve 2.0 or switches to a four-man back line, Allegri would certainly appreciate Kyle Walker’s experience and versatility, as well as Strahinja Pavlovic’s strength and aggression.

Fikayo Tomori (aggressive central defender) and Malick Thiaw (the most accustomed to building up from the back) would also remain valid options. Matteo Gabbia deserves a separate discussion: he is Italian, a Milanista and solid, so could become one of Allegri’s most relied upon players.

What’s missing? Theo Hernandez’s contractual situation – regardless of who will be the coach – requires the search for a new left-back.

Size and technical ability

In midfield, Youssouf Fofana’s versatility and tactical intelligence would be appreciated by Max. Moreover, at Juve he worked well with French midfielders, from Matuidi to Rabiot and of course with Pogba thrown in.

Yunus Musah and Warren Bondo also have ‘Allegrian’ characteristics, the first for his running ability, the second for his positioning and readings. The Italian coach also loves Tijjani Reijnders-style attacking midfielders, like Vidal and Khedira then more recently Rabiot.

The Dutchman may not have the power of the aforementioned, but on the other hand he has high-level technical qualities. If desired, in the absence of an arrival from the market, Reijnders can also be used in midfield as a playmaker like Pjanic.

For Allegri’s style, perhaps it would be necessary to add a midfielder with size and and physicality. At Milan it worked with Mark van Bommel, an added balancer.

Up front

The attack chapter can only start with Rafael Leao. On paper, a player with Rafa’s change of pace and talent can only be a godsend for Allegri’s deadly counter-attacks.

In the recent past, however, Allegri has had problems with Di Maria and Chiesa, classy and fast attacking wingers. In addition, Leao does not shine for sacrifice in the defensive phase.

Christian Pulisic is more versatile and collaborative, while Santiago Gimenez will have to be worked on: if he were to end up isolated like Vlahovic in Allegri’s Juve, it would be problematic.