A goal in Turin, and the arguments start all over again
Born in 2006, he was never supposed to be Milan’s talking point this week. After 90 minutes, he was.
Starting on the opening day of Serie A, Alphadjo Cisse scored his first professional goal in the 2-1 win at Torino. Right in the part of the pitch Rafael Leao has owned for years. The Italian press made the connection straight away.
What caught the eye was not just the goal. It was the nonstop running, the work in the press, the lack of those long disappearances that have so often been held against the Portugal winger. The line doing the rounds in Italy is blunt: Milan did not look like a side missing him.
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Leao, the saga that keeps dragging on
The Portugal winger has already said he has given everything he can to the club and wants a crack at a new league. Under contract until 2028, his first choice is the Premier League. Jorge Mendes is busy trying to engineer an exit.
The problem is the serious offers still do not match Milan’s demands. Galatasaray and Fenerbahce have both moved on the deal without getting the Rossoneri to budge, and they are still asking for a hefty fee for their No 10. While all that grinds on, the pecking order on the pitch is shifting.
Amorim keeps his feet on the ground, Cisse enjoys the moment
Ruben Amorim was never going to turn one debut into a final judgement. After the win, the Portuguese coach mostly spoke about his team: “I liked Milan, at times very much. Even in the first half, despite not creating much real danger. They are a side with clear ideas already, and this was only the first matchday. I did not expect them to be this far along in the tactical plan.”
The young Frenchman, meanwhile, did not hide his emotion. “Probably even in a dream I would not have imagined starting for Milan and scoring. I am happy, but now we think about Friday,” he said, before explaining how he won his coach’s trust: “At the start, I was on the outside for a while, so I kept watching every training session to get to know the coach.”
Milan may have found a free fix for life after Leao. One night in Turin is nowhere near enough to prove it. But it is enough to raise the question.
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