Calm before the storm: AC Milan’s two-sided injury luck in 2024-25 | OneFootball

Last season, AC Milan were defined by their injury list, but for the most part this season, it has not been the case. However, injury problems have begun to crop up again.

By all accounts, last season was ruined by Milan’s injury problems. Across the pitch, the consistent injuries massively derailed the season, and the lack of depth only further hurt the squad. Whilst the depth issue arguably remains, the injuries have not been so frequent.

But, in recent weeks, absences have piled up slightly, and we can define the season in two eras really.

Before the end of November, the Rossoneri were having quite a quiet season on the injury front, definitely so compared to last season. However, Paulo Fonseca then said that things had been very positive in the medical room this season, and then, they quickly weren’t.

So, let’s look at the bigger picture using the stats from Transfermarkt.

Pre-Fonseca’s words

November 29, Fonseca’s press conference stated things were fine, and this was before the game against Empoli. In pre-season, the Diavolo walked away with only two injuries – a season-defining injury to Alessandro Florenzi and a hand injury for Marco Sportiello.

Once the season began, Fonseca had to deal with a few defensive injuries: Davide Calabria, Malick Thiaw and Matteo Gabbia. With Emerson Royal’s occasional struggles, there has been a noticeable lack of another option, but Fonseca coped.

Centrally, it was a different story, with the Portuguese trialling several different partnerships to no avail.

Ismael Bennacer suffered a long-term injury at the start of the season and has only just returned, aside from him, Ruben Loftus-Cheek has also spent periods sidelined.

On the front line, Noah Okafor, Tammy Abraham, Alvaro Morata and Luka Jovic have all struggled with injury issues so far, which has highlighted the issues with the No.9 options.

Post-Fonseca’s words

Since the Empoli game, things have faltered back to last season, with the Rossoneri struggling with injuries and absences.

Yunus Musah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have recently been sidelined, which has left things short in midfield – an unfortunately reminiscent trend of last season.

On the front line, Milan have also had to deal with injuries to Noah Okafor, Rafael Leao, Christian Pulisic and Alvaro Morata, whilst Samuel Chukwueze got injured against Roma – which looked quite serious at the time.

Luka Jovic is yet to return from his period of extended absence, and whether he will feature again for the Diavolo is yet to be seen.

Certainly, a difficult situation for Sergio Conceicao to walk into, but the new head coach will not be allowing any excuses to be made, as he stated in his first interview.