GdS: 15,000km plus two fitness concerns – Milan to face Bologna with attack in rough shape

The AC Milan squad are back in training on Tuesday, and Massimiliano Allegri has some big selection decisions to make.

La Gazzetta dello Sport recall how the images from the past week have shown Christopher Nkunku running at Milanello, pedalling on an exercise bike and lifting weights which makes one thing very clear: he is working to be ready right away.

By his own admission, however, time is needed. After an intense Club World Cup, the Frenchman essentially didn’t play in the summer against Chelsea and needs to get back into shape. Right now, he has no more than half an hour in his legs.

Can he get to 60-70 minutes to start in a week? Difficult, especially since forcing it wouldn’t make sense, and Allegri isn’t the type to take risks in this regard.

Photos: Claudio Villa/AC Milan via Getty Images

The distance dilemma

As always during the break, Milan will have to monitor flight routes. Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez are overseas on international duty, as usual, but the difference is they play a bit further away than most.

Pulisic returned tired in his first year and had the derby waiting for him, that 5-1 defeat versus Inter. Things went much better in 2024, and Milan will ask him to make an effort again. With Nkunku not ready and Leao still recovering, at least one of Gimenez and Pulisic will have to start.

Pulisic will play for the United States in the early hours of Wednesday morning at 01:30 CEST Italian time, against Japan Columbus, Ohio. That’s over 7,000km away as the crow flies. Gimenez will play on the same night at 03:00 Italian time against South Korea, a friendly in Nashville, Tennessee.

That makes a total of almost 15,000km between Pulisic and Gimenez: they’ll fly between Wednesday and Thursday, do a couple of training sessions at Milanello, and then be expected to play. It is another factor for Allegri to consider, to put it lightly.