Milan, the situation of the injured: Pulisic, Leao

Journalist

December 31 – 09:58 – MILANO

The pair of forwards who knocked out Verona on Sunday are in doubt for the first away match of 2026, Friday in Cagliari. Pulisic and Nkunku were bruised in yesterday morning’s session: they will be put under the magnifying glass again today and tomorrow afternoon, before the team leaves for Cagliari. And not even Füllkrug is certain that he will be there against the rossoblù: in his case, however, it is not the physical conditions that have anything to do with it, but the international transfer necessary to complete the registration. It must arrive by 4pm on Friday so that the documentation in via Rosellini is complete and the German can be used. And Leao? Out against Verona, yesterday he carried out the entire session with the team: the inflammation of the right adductor, following the injury suffered in Turin on 8 December, bothers him less and he feels more free to sprint.

confirmation in doubt

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Allegri on Friday in Cagliari would like to confirm Pulisic and Nkunku who scored the three goals with which Verona was knocked out. The problem is the physical condition of the two: yesterday the American still had some discomfort in his right flexor injured against the United States in October. The muscle has healed, but the scar bothers him from time to time. This is why he underwent instrumental tests yesterday. Today’s work at Milanello will allow us to understand something more, but Max is counting on not having to give up on him as happened on November 29th in the victory against Lazio. Nkunku isn’t doing very well either as he’s suffering from an ankle injury: it shouldn’t be anything serious, but in any case it’s a setback that the Livorno coach would have done without. Because on Sunday the Frenchman broke free in the championship and hopes he continues… inflating balloons. The feeling is that “Christo” will eventually go onto the field gritting his teeth.

race against time

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Füllkrug is well and worked with his teammates yesterday. He may not be in top condition, but he has a great desire after the negative experience at West Ham: the goal is to win a place in Germany’s squad for the World Cup. He has fit into the group well, with the right attitude, and can make an important contribution. The exemption from registration from 2 January (the opening day of the transfer market) granted by the FIGC to Cagliari and Milan allows the Rossoneri to have him available against the Rossoblu, provided that the transfer arrives from England. It is needed by 4pm on Friday, otherwise the debut will be postponed to the match against Genoa. In via Aldo Rossi there is the belief that the bureaucratic process will be perfected, but today and tomorrow are holidays, so…

Leao improves

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And then there is the Portuguese who has shown encouraging signs in the last two days. The adductor is looser and affects him less than last week. He’s still not at his best and, since he hasn’t played for almost a month, Allegri wouldn’t want to use him from the start. This is why he hopes that Pulisic and Nkunku are in a position to start from number 1: Rafa should not be risked because January is full of games and number 10 is needed at the top.