Milan’s season has acquired another difficult absence, with Alexis Saelemaekers facing surgery on his right ankle after a new setback during the international break. The Belgian had been showing encouraging progress in recent weeks, but the injury has interrupted that spell and is expected to keep him out until well into 2027.
The coach and the club
The problem concerns the same right ankle on which Saelemaekers underwent an operation in 2024 for a medial malleolus fracture. Further examinations found that the recent training injury had caused instability around the area of the previous procedure.
Milan confirmed that specialist consultations were under way to establish the most suitable treatment plan. The prospect of an operation, however, means a far longer recovery than initially hoped and removes an attacking option from Ruben Amorim’s squad for a substantial part of the campaign ahead.
Saelemaekers had become increasingly useful in the attacking midfield line, where his absence now places more responsibility on Christian Pulisic and Alphadjo Cisse. Pulisic is expected to start on Sunday when Milan travel to Reggio Emilia to face Sassuolo.
The other attacking place remains open. Cisse will compete with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ardon Jashari, while Amorim could also alter the balance of the midfield: Jashari may operate closer to Luka Modric, allowing Adrien Rabiot to move into a more advanced role.
Those choices will be shaped not only by the Sassuolo fixture but also by Milan’s Europa League trip to Salzburg on Thursday. With Saelemaekers unavailable for the long term, managing the workload of the players asked to cover his contribution becomes another part of Amorim’s weekly task.
