The AC Milan Sentinel
Squad1 Feb 2027
110 days out for Karim Benzema after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AC Milan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match26 Jan 2027
Paul Pogba sends AC Milan through
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Paul Pogba obliged against Modena. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is AC Milan.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Door shut on Riccardo Orsolini
AC Milan asked and Bologna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Both of them Gonçalo Ramos's — 8.98
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.98, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad1 Feb 2027
6 saves: Mike Maignan was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Age has not caught Paul Pogba yet — 8.46
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.46 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Adrien Rabiot pops up at the right end — 7.93
7.93, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
AC Milan close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Mattia Zaramella says AC Milan went back on their word
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
In brief
- Market Luka Modrić wants to know where this is going
- Squad Words exchanged at AC Milan
- Match AC Milan make it 3 in a row