AC Milan make the short trip to face Como on Tuesday evening, hoping to get Sergio Conceicao’s first league win since taking over.
That first victory in Serie A should have come on Saturday against a Cagliari side who are in the bottom three, yet Alvaro Morata’s opening goal was cancelled out a few minutes later and the end result was a 1-1 draw.
Milan therefore have to put things right against Como, who are also struggling after returning to the top flight following a 21-year hiatus. The Champions League spots have not disappeared just yet, but the runway gets shorter with each passing week.
The predicted starting XIs
Conceicao will be without three players for the game due to injury: Alessandro Florenzi, Samuel Chukwueze and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The right-back is expected to be 50 days away from recovery, the winger 15 and the midfielder 10.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Emerson Royal will come back in at right-back after serving a suspension on Saturday. The rest of the rearguard will remain the same.
There will be an alteration in the middle of the park, with Ismael Bennacer expected to be the right mezzala in a three-man midfield alongside Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders.
The third and final change will be in attack, with Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao tipped to flank Tammy Abraham rather than Alvaro Morata, despite the Englishman missing big chances a few days ago.
Predicted Milan XI (4-3-3): Maignan, Emerson, Thiaw, Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Bennacer, Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Abraham, Leao.
Predicted Como XI (3-4-2-1): Butez; Goldaniga, Kempf, Dossena; Van der Brempt, Engelhardt, Da Cunha, Fadera; Diao, Strefezza; Cutrone.
Noah Okafor flew to Germany to complete a move to RB Leipzig yesterday, but a report has suggested he will soon be on a plane back to Milan.
Okafor was spotted at Milan Linate yesterday getting on a flight to the east of Germany, where he would undergo a medical and (it was hoped) sign a contract with the Bundesliga side.
This morning some figures from the deal agreed emerged: it was to be a €2m loan with a €26m option to buy, at least as per La Gazzetta dello Sport. The Rossoneri directors had negotiated high figures, therefore.
However, there is now a spanner in the works. Philipp Hinze of Sky Germany reports that Leipzig have pulled the plug on the deal because the results of the medical showed that Okafor is not able to help immediately.
The Swiss player is not ready for action physically, as Leipzig were hoping for. As a result, the Saxony-based club have cancelled the transfer and the deal has collapsed.
It is not the news that anyone wanted, especially given that Okafor made some statements to the journalists who were present and basically bid farewell to the Milan fans.
“In life you never know, maybe we’ll see each other again. For me it was the best choice. Thanks to the Milan fans, I leave a place that will forever be in my heart,” he said.
In his 18 months in Italy, the Swiss played 52 games with the Diavolo, scoring seven goals and providing five assists.
Noah Okafor bid farewell to AC Milan for the time being yesterday, boarding a plane to Germany where he will join RB Leipzig.
As this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) confirms, Okafor boarded a plane at Milan Linate yesterday which was bound for east Germany. He will do a medical with Leipzig and then sign a contract for what will be an initial loan deal.
The Swiss forward will head there for six months but it could become permanent, given there is an option to buy inserted into the deal. Leipzig will pay a loan fee of around €2m – quite high given it is a six-month loan – and the buy-out option is set at €26m, so a potential total of €28m.
Yesterday, shortly before leaving, Okafor gave some statements to the journalists who were present and he admitted that he does not consider the Milan door completely closed as a chapter in his career.
“In life you never know, maybe we’ll see each other again. For me it was the best choice. Thanks to the Milan fans, I leave a place that will forever be in my heart,” he said. In his 18 months in Italy, the Swiss played 52 games with the Diavolo, scoring seven goals and providing five assists.
Calciomercato.com are reporting meanwhile that the loan fee is actually €1m and that the option to buy is €24m, so a €25m package. A four-year deal is ready in the event it becomes a permanent move.