MN: The three ideas Allegri has in mind amid Saelemaekers’ Bologna absence

Alexis Saelemaekers will be missing Tuesday night’s trip to face Bologna because he has not fully recovered from an adductor problem.

As MilanNews recall, Saelemaekers seemed to be fully fit again last week, so much so that Max Allegri named him as a starter in last Sunday’s trip to Rome. The Belgian was then substituted at half-time, after a difficult opening 45 minutes.

Saelemaekers has started all 22 games in the league so far playing a total of 1,843 minutes out of 1,980, which shows his importance. However, his flexor isn’t allowing him to be 100% fit, so Massimiliano Allegri is pondering other choices.

Three replacement options

The first solution is the least likely: a back four could be considered, with Fikayo Tomori or Koni De Winter moved to the right, then Matteo Gabbia, Strahinja Pavlovic or De Winter as the two central defenders, and Davide Bartesgahi on the left.

The second option is to play Zachary Athekame, a much more likely option than the previous one. The only unknown is the Swiss full-back’s condition, which appears to be less than 100%, meaning he could start on the bench.

If this were the case, the main option would then be to deploy Ruben Loftus-Cheek as a wide player in the usual 3-5-2. Allegri has repeatedly stated that the Englishman can play that role, so much so that it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen him operate on that flank.