GdS: Pulisic can be Milan’s ‘new signing’ – the plan for his return to a starting role

AC Milan are about to add another new attacking midfielder to their ranks after Omari Hutchinson, but his name is familiar.

La Gazzetta dello Sport write that Christian Pulisic could be Milan’s real addition in September. Hutchinson has arrived from Nottingham Forest and a period of adaptation will follow, whereas the American knows Serie A inside out by now, and there is a role in mind for him.

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Pulisic was on the bench against Venezia but didn’t come on. “He’s a great talent,” Amorim said after the match. “I simply have to manage my players’ workloads, and right now we need to win. So it’s difficult for Pulisic to get playing time, but he’s still a very important player for us.”

Pulisic came back from the World Cup with a complex injury: a bone edema in the tibia-fibula junction of his right leg. He was sidelined for a while, trained for a week, and then returned to the bench. His physical issue has been resolved, but his condition is still far from ideal.

He’s not 100%, not even close. The former Chelsea man needs to improve his match fitness, and he’s not expected to be in the line-up on Sunday evening in Turin against Juventus. Logic suggests he’ll play a few minutes in the second half, but not the entire match.

Milan are looking forward to having him back because Pulisic is a starter. The attacking midfield is a strange mix of experience (Adrien Rabiot), youth (Alphadjo Cisse), size (Ruben Loftus-Cheek), creativity (Diego Moreira), and running and dribbling (Alexis Saelemaekers). It won’t be easy to choose a pairing in any given match.

Pulisic is the player with the most goals and assists in a Milan shirt, after Rafael Leao’s exit. If Juventus vs. Milan were to be played in a month, the prediction would be easy: him and Rabiot would start. This weekend, things are different. The most likely pairing? Rabiot and Cisse.