Allegri admits he approved small squad but makes concession: “If I had a crystal ball”

Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed that he was happy with AC Milan’s squad size going into the season, until injuries started piling up.

Milan went into the 2025-26 season with a streamlined squad, and it certainly meant that the margins were thin in terms of having adequate depth in the event of suffering multiple injuries in a short space of time.

As tends to be the case for the Rossoneri every season, luck has not been on their side with physical issues. At one point the squad was so decimated that there were only two senior outfield players on the bench, for the game against Fiorentina earlier in the month.

Allegri spoke to reporters in his pre-match press conference on the eve of the game against Napoli – which we translated in full – and he was questioned on whether he gave the green light to having just 19 outfield players.

“I decided the number of players I have available together with the club. Unfortunately, if I had a crystal ball to see that in October there were five players injured after the internationals, then the club would have signed more,” he said.

“But there are positive things: we’ve seen that Bartesaghi is a player who can have a future at Milan. De Winter is a Milan player, Ricci is a player who can be at Milan. So there are also some positive things.”