Milan Faces Challenges as Maignan and Rabiot Extend Holidays
The countdown is on in Milan, and the clock is not their friend.
Less than two weeks before the 2026-27 Serie A season kicks off, new head coach Ruben Amorim is still waiting for two of his most important players. Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot, both central to any serious title push, have decided to extend their holidays and will only report back a week before the opener against Torino.
In a summer already clouded by uncertainty, it feels like another storm rolling over Milanello.
Amorim’s Start Complicated Before a Ball Is Kicked
Amorim arrives with ideas, energy and a mandate to reshape Milan, but the tools are not yet in his hands. The squad needs trimming before it can be strengthened. Several first-team players are up for sale, and the Rafael Leao question still hangs over the club like a dark cloud: will he still be in red and black when the window closes?
Against that backdrop, the absence of his captain and one of his most experienced midfielders cuts even deeper.
Both Maignan and Rabiot went deep into the 2026 World Cup with France, earning the right to extended rest. Initially, they were expected back on August 14. Now that date has quietly slipped to August 16 – exactly seven days before Milan walk out for their first league game of the season.
For a new coach trying to impose a system, a structure and a hierarchy, those two days feel heavier than the calendar suggests.
Fans Take Note – and Draw Comparisons
The decision has not gone unnoticed among the Rossoneri faithful. On the other side of the city, Inter players who also featured late into the World Cup – Lautaro Martinez and John Stones – are already back in full training under Cristian Chivu.
That contrast stings. Supporters see rivals gearing up, leaders back on the pitch, while Milan’s own key figures remain on the beach.
Rabiot, at least publicly, has been clear. During the World Cup he spoke about returning to Milan, meeting Amorim, and “going again” in 2026-27. His intentions, by word and by tone, point towards commitment once he is back through the gates.
With Maignan, the picture is far murkier.
Maignan’s Silence Speaks Loudly
On paper, Maignan is the face of this Milan. The captain. The anchor. The man entrusted to carry the weight of the shirt and the legacy of those who wore the armband before him.
Yet his recent actions tell a different story.
The goalkeeper has stripped his social media profiles of Milan-related photos and references, a modern but unmistakable signal that all is not well. For a player of his stature, and a captain no less, it is a gesture that resonates loudly in a city where football is religion and symbols matter.
Then came another jolt: Maignan did not attend the funeral of Franco Baresi, one of the greatest icons in Milan’s history. For many, that absence cut deeper than any online gesture. It raised questions not just about his future, but about his connection to the club’s soul.
Put together, the missed funeral, the social media scrub, and now the delayed return have only intensified the sense that Maignan is not at ease with life at San Siro.
A Delicate Pre-Season Tightrope
For Amorim, this is a delicate balancing act. He must protect the authority of the dressing room while managing two players who, if fully engaged, could define his debut season.
Maignan remains one of the best goalkeepers in the world, a match-winner in his own right. Rabiot brings experience, physicality and a level of calm on the ball that Milan will lean on in a long, demanding campaign. Losing either, or even starting the season with them underprepared, would carry a cost.
The club’s situation off the pitch only heightens the tension. With sales needed to unlock new signings, every hint of discontent from a star player feeds speculation and unease. Every day lost in pre-season sharpens the margin for error once the real games begin.
The calendar, though, does not pause. Torino await. The season will not wait for Maignan and Rabiot to feel ready.
In a city that has seen eras built and broken on the strength of its leaders, the question now is blunt: when Milan’s captain finally walks back into the dressing room, will he still feel like the man to lead this new cycle – or the first symbol of a chapter already coming to an end?
