GdS: A star-studded Milan – Amorim to field ‘most dazzling’ side against Sassuolo
AC Milan’s 2026-27 Serie A season resumes after the three-week international break with a difficult trip to take on Sassuolo.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) reports this morning that for the first time this season, Ruben Amorim will field ‘the most dazzling version’ of his Milan side from the start, featuring all the major signings from the recent transfer window alongside the squad’s biggest stars.
Leading the attack is Gonçalo Ramos, the most expensive signing in the club’s history. Behind him stands a superhero: ‘Captain America’ Pulisic. Then, racing down the flanks, we have Samuel Chukwueze on one side and Diego Moreira on the other.
Rounding out the line-up is a €30m defensive signing Mario Gila, acquired despite his contract being set to expire at the end of the current season. Finally, in goal is the captain ‘Magic Mike’ Maignan.
All-out attack
Partly due to Alexis Saelemaekers’ injury and partly due to a desire to accelerate after the three weeks off, Amorim will field an attacking side. The fact is that the Portuguese coach wants a rocket restart for his team.
Moreira comes in, so far only seen from the first minute at Juventus, however in a more defensive role. The Belgian has scored three goals in the league, all coming on as a substitute during the match. This time, he will have to push wide left from the start, as he did recently for the national team.
Amorim said in his press conference: “On the left he is more direct, on the right he tries more combinations and one-on-ones.” For the first time Moreira will occupy one lane, with Chukwueze on the other side.
It is a solution that the Portuguese coach had effectively excluded at the beginning of the season, when his Milan still had to find the right balance and seemed unable to go beyond the 3-4-2-1. Against Lecce the switch to 4-4-1-1 immediately gave positive responses and opened up new possibilities.
Behind the striker Amorim can field another quick elf capable of hurting like few others: Christian Pulisic, who returned to scoring for the Rossoneri 266 days after his previous goal against Verona, on December 28 of last year.
Unlocking Ramos
There is no point hiding from it: there is a Milan side with Pulisic and another without him. The American’s return to the starting lineup coincided with what was arguably the best performance of the early Amorim era.
The reason is simple: the former Chelsea man possesses a unique set of qualities and characteristics within the Rossoneri squad. He can attack open space (as seen in his goal vs. Lecce), operate between the lines, drop deep to link up play, drift wide to either flank, thread a through-ball, or shoot.
Pulisic is unpredictable and, when fully fit, unstoppable. Furthermore, the role Amorim has designed for him grants him complete freedom of movement. The USA international could be the key to helping unlock Gonçalo Ramos, who hasn’t scored for Milan since late August.
The Portuguese centre-forward netted three goals in consecutive international matches, proving that when the chance arises, he certainly knows how to strike. “I have to think about the good of the team, not just this or that player. Of course, we need to create more scoring chances and get more balls into the box, but not just for Ramos,” Amorim said.
In fact, rather than playing a different style, the former PSG man benefited from his team-mates’ greater creativity with Portugal, as they supported the attack more effectively. That is where Pulisic, with his dynamism, can certainly lend a hand.
On the flanks, an attack-minded duo like Chukwueze and Moreira could ensure significantly more balls reach the penalty area. All this without overlooking the support from Adrien Rabiot or Yunus Musah (preferred over Modrić, who returned tired from international duty).
In short, Amorim has further options to help Gonçalo end his goal drought. The rest is up to Ramos himself, but for someone who lifted two Champions League trophies in Paris, that hardly seems like a tall order.
