AC Milan

Photo by AC Milan/AC Milan via Getty Images Undergoing the needle for the knee. The AC Milan Women have been in the midst of turmoil, and adding to their woes is a spate of injuries. The club recently confirmed that young forward, Rimantė Jonušaitė, recently underwent surgery for an injury to their right knee. The club has confirmed this via an official statement. The forward signed for Milan last November and only featured in a handful of matches for the Rossonere. The player was injured during a match against Juventus before the winter break. The game ended in a 5-2 defeat for Milan. From the club themselves... “Following the injury she suffered in the final minutes of Juventus v AC Milan on 12 December, Rimantė Jonušaitė underwent surgery on her right knee at the Clinica La Madonnina yesterday. The operation, which was performed by Dr. Pozzoni and his team, went perfectly to plan, with the Lithuanian forward being discharged this morning. She will begin her rehabilitation programme in the next few days.” Guarisci presto, Rimantė.

Photo by Fabrizio Carabelli/LiveMedia/NurPhoto via Getty Images A beneficial move for all parties involved as he is not getting to play at the moment. MilanNews.it are reporting that AC Milan left out right winger Samu Castillejo from the squad to face Juventus at the San Siro this past weekend due to a technical choice. The winger is not injured and has not been available for a while which could signal his time at the club is nearing it’s end. The winger has been linked with multiple clubs in Spain over the past few transfer windows but none have materialised. Milan are keen to shed his wages and gain a fee from his sale as his spot could enable some gaps to be filled in the side. The return of Marco Giampaolo to the Sampdoria bench could be the lifeline for Castillejo to remain in Serie A as he had a good relationship with the manager when he was at the helm at Milan for those seven disastrous games. Castillejo has played 113 games for Milan scoring 10 goals and providing 15 assists since the summer of 2018.

Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images An investment for the future but one that is unlikely to make a big difference in the remaining six months of this season. AC Milan are expected to complete the signing of 18 year old striker Marko Lazetic from Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) this week. The director at Red Star Belgrade commented on the approach via Calcio Mercato to say: “The transfer of Lazetic to Milan is an indication of the good work done. Yesterday we agreed everything with Milan, now I expect Lazetic to negotiate his terms through his agents and sign the contract. For Red Star it is a great recognition to have their own player at Milan after 30 years.” MilanNews.it are reporting that the focus of the current owners and management investing in youth makes the Lazetic deal no surprise. The direction has been clear with the arrivals of Pierre Kalulu, Yacine Adli and Pietro Pellegri amongst others. The report importantly notes that the scouting department had been watching the player for a while and acted quick to sign him ahead of Zenit St Petersburg, Torino and RB Salzburg.

Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer/ISI Photos/Getty Images The Bay Area native goes to Italy. The AC Milan Women currently have a few glaring holes in their roster and are looking to plug them rather quickly. One of the ways they’ll do so is by bringing in players from abroad. According to Milan News 24, the Rossonere are on the cusp of signing Celeste Boureille. As per the Portland Timbers site, Boureille is a smart player, capable of filling many roles through the midfield and defense. Their main position, however, is that of a defensive midfielder. The player once lead the league in clearances and was second in tackles won for the 2017-2018 season while playing for their previous team, the Portland Thorns. Boureille started twelve matches for the team last year and helped them win the NWSL Shield. The midfielder is also no stranger to Europe, as they had previously completed a loan spell at FC Fleury 91 for the 2020-2021 season (FBRef). They also scored one goal for the French side. Boureille is also a Bay Area native, who was born in San Francisco and who played college ball at UC Berkeley. With this in mind, they will become the first-ever American to play for the Milan Women. The player has already given their salutations to the Thorns and their fans before they embark on their new journey. My time as a Thorn has been an amazingly rewarding experience and I have loved every second of it. Thank you to the entire Portland organization for giving me this unforgettable opportunity since day one as a Pro. With that being said, it's time to explore a new part of the world pic.twitter.com/KDOOThd0h8— Celeste Boureille (@CelBee) January 24, 2022 Boureille will join Milan on a dry loan and is expected to be unveiled by the team within the upcoming days. They will also be the second, former Thorn to join the team, as Verónica Boquete had previously played for Portland back in 2014. Boureille might even be on the bench for the Rossonere’s upcoming Coppa Italia clash against Sampdoria this weekend. The match will take place this Sunday and kickoff time will be at 12:30 CET. And if we’re lucky, then we’ll get to see Celeste trade the red and black of Portland for the Rossoneri of Milan.

Photo by Francesco Scaccianoce/LiveMedia/NurPhoto via Getty Images The state of the pitch has been poor in recent weeks but hopefully can be better for the crucial title game. La Gazzetta dello Sport spoke to the pitch manager of the San Siro, Giovanni Castelli regarding the condition of the ground. AC Milan played Juventus and the condition looked poor to the extent that striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic picked up a small issue and blamed the hardness of the pitch when he came off. The pitch has been overused in recent weeks and hopefully it will be in good condition for the derby against Inter Milan in a few weeks. Here is what he had to say: “Don’t worry, we are ready to start with the work of replacing and mending the pitch. The derby will have the turf that such an important and spectacular challenge deserves, and we had guaranteed until the Christmas break.” “The calendar was too full of events and the field suffered: just think that from the Roma game to last night at San Siro there were 7 matches between Serie A and Coppa Italia, to which we must add the Super Cup, which during the award ceremony brought about three hundred people in the field.” “Once two games were played in just 24 hours and in two other cases two games 48 hours apart. We understand the discomfort for the protagonists, but we can guarantee that after the break it will be like playing on a new pitch.” “Fortunately, there will be no weather problems for the next ten days, neither heavy rain nor snow is expected: stable conditions guarantee zero risks. From the post Milan-Juve the logistics have already been prepared, this morning at 9 we will begin to completely remove the old turf, then from tomorrow until Friday the new lawn arriving from Verona will be rested and the mending work will start from Saturday to Thursday, with four textile machines.” “It is a solution that has existed for about twenty years and which now all the top clubs in Europe use. Every two centimetres of grass there is a twenty centimetre long synthetic thread that enters 18cm deep while peeping out by two centimetres. In a square meter of clods there are hundreds of threads, it is as if we were putting nails on a board: maximum safety and tightness. Practically it is as if each clod were a box of a puzzle that fits together with the other.” “Usually the substitution takes place in the summer, when you have much more time. During the year we work on regeneration, with lamps and all the necessary machinery. But looking at the calendar, we opted for the replacement and mending intervention.” “After the derby, there will again be a slot of seven events in ten days between the league and various cups. Starting over with a new pitch was necessary.”