Milan's Tension as Maignan and Rabiot Extend Holidays
Tension grows in Milan as the new Serie A season creeps closer and two of the club’s biggest names remain on the beach.
With less than two weeks to go before Ruben Amorim’s first competitive game in charge, captain Mike Maignan and senior midfielder Adrien Rabiot have decided to extend their holidays, pushing their return to training back to just seven days before the opener against Torino.
For a club trying to reset, the timing could hardly be worse.
Amorim’s rebuild stuck in neutral
Milan turned to Amorim to launch a new cycle, but the Portuguese coach is still waiting for a fully formed squad. Several first-team players need to be moved on before any serious reinforcements can arrive, and the Rafael Leao saga still hangs over the club like a summer storm cloud.
Into that uncertainty drops another complication: the late return of two of the dressing room’s most influential figures.
Both Maignan and Rabiot went deep into the 2026 World Cup with France and were initially scheduled to report back on August 14. Instead, they have chosen to prolong their breaks until August 16, leaving Amorim with just one week to integrate them before Torino visit San Siro.
For a new coach trying to impose ideas, rhythms and hierarchies, those lost days matter.
Fans look across the city – and don’t like what they see
The decision has not gone down well with a section of the Rossoneri support. The frustration has sharpened as comparisons with the other side of the city emerge.
Inter pair Lautaro Martinez and John Stones, who also featured in the latter stages of the World Cup, are already back in full training under Cristian Chivu. They are present, working, visible.
Milan’s leaders, by contrast, are still absent.
Rabiot at least has been clear about his intentions. During the World Cup he publicly stated that he would return to Milan, sit down with Amorim and “go again” in 2026-27. His stance offers a measure of reassurance in a jittery summer.
Maignan’s situation feels very different.
Maignan’s silence speaks loudly
The goalkeeper, installed as Rossoneri captain, has sent a series of signals that have unsettled the fanbase and fuelled speculation about his future.
He has stripped his social media profiles of Milan-related images and references, a modern gesture that rarely happens by accident. It is not a transfer request, but it is not nothing either, especially in a summer when the club must sell before it buys.
Then came another detail that jarred: Maignan did not attend the funeral of Franco Baresi last week. For many supporters, the absence of the current captain at the farewell of a club legend cut deep. It raised questions that the club, and the player, have yet to answer.
When a captain steps away from the club’s imagery and from one of its most sacred moments, people notice.
A delicate countdown
All of this unfolds against a ticking clock. Amorim is trying to construct a team, a style and a hierarchy in a compressed pre-season, while two of his most important players remain physically and symbolically distant.
On August 16, Maignan and Rabiot are due to walk back through the gates of Milanello. By then, there will be seven days left before Torino and the hard reality of Serie A.
In a week, Amorim must reinsert his captain, reconnect with his senior midfielder and hope that any off-field tension does not spill onto the pitch.
For Milan, the question is no longer just who will start the season in goal or in midfield. It is whether the club’s leaders are fully aligned with a project that has barely begun.
