AC Milan captain Alessio Romagnoli will play for the first time in three months on Saturday, Gazzetta dello Sport reports.
The centre-back is back in training after suffering a calf injury back in July, and it looks as though minutes are about to be rushed into him ahead of the Europa League trip to Celtic Park a week tomorrow.
Gazzetta dello Sport believes that Milan boss Stefano Pioli is willing to throw him in against Inter’s Belgian superstar Romelu Lukaku.
Romagnoli has missed the last nine Milan matches due to his calf injury, and didn’t manage to get a solid pre-season under his belt because of it. However, he’s part of the club’s strongest centre-back partnership alongside talented Dane Simon Kjaer.
Matteo Gabbia had generally taken Romagnoli’s place in the team and has helped them secure three straight wins to go joint-top of Serie A. He’s also played part in helping Milan through three stages of Europa League qualifying – it’s clear they have some strength in depth there.
Romagnoli simply can’t be fully-fit
It’s absolutely anyone’s guess as to what Pioli’s plans will be for the Celtic game. If he’s playing Romagnoli on Saturday, then surely he can’t be thinking about featuring him at Parkhead just five days later. Not a player who has been sidelined for so long.
Of course, he’s available should Milan wish to go down that route. From a Celtic perspective, it would certainly be intriguing to see whether the likes of Odsonne Edouard and Albian Ajeti could cause damage against that calibre of player without a roaring crowd pushing them on.
However, it would make sense fitness wise for Gabbia to be put back in for the game in Glasgow. Especially if Romagnoli is going to be a direct opponent of Lukaku’s in what should be an intense derby.
Irrespective of what happens of course, Milan are starting to get some of their depth back. As well as Romagnoli, Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to training after picking up Covid and self-isolating for a period. He’ll also be available to play at Parkhead should Piolo choose him (Sky Sport).
There are no guarantees that Milan are even prioritising the Europa League in fairness. They could have their eyes solely fixated on ensuring that they continue their fine start to the Serie A campaign.
But even so, Celtic will be preparing for their strongest side to hit us next week. Romagnoli and Ibrahimovic are available for selection – that’s all Neil Lennon will care about.
In other news, Celtic fans have been discussing the prospect of one of Lennon’s January signings starting against Rangers.
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