Tension in Milan: Maignan and Rabiot's Absence Raises Concerns
Tension grows in Milan. Not over a transfer saga or a late pre-season defeat, but over two missing pillars of the dressing room.
With less than two weeks to go before the 2026-27 Serie A season kicks off, Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot are still on holiday.
Amorim’s new era starts with shadows
Ruben Amorim arrived at Milan to lead a reset. New ideas, new training methods, a new voice in a demanding dressing room. What he does not yet have is a settled squad.
The opener against Torino is fast approaching, and the Rossoneri still need to sell before they can buy. Rafael Leao’s future hangs in the balance, the transfer window remains a minefield, and now the captain and a senior midfielder are absent from preparations.
Maignan and Rabiot, both involved deep into the 2026 World Cup with France, had been scheduled to return on August 14. Instead, they have pushed that date back to August 16 — exactly one week before Milan’s first league game.
Two days may not sound like much. In the current climate at Milanello, it feels like a statement.
Fans look across the city – and don’t like what they see
The frustration is not just about calendar days. It is about optics, commitment, and comparison.
Across the city, Inter’s World Cup contingent has already reported back. Lautaro Martinez and John Stones, who also went the distance in the tournament, are back under Cristian Chivu’s orders and into full first-team training.
Milan fans see that. They see their own captain and one of their most experienced midfielders still on the beach. The reaction has been predictable: irritation, concern, and a growing sense that the club’s biggest names are not fully aligned with the new project.
Rabiot’s promise, Maignan’s silence
Rabiot, at least publicly, has tried to draw a clear line. During the World Cup he stated his intention to return to Milan, sit down with Amorim, and “go again” in 2026-27. His message was one of continuity and renewed effort.
Maignan is a different story.
The goalkeeper, currently wearing the armband, has given off signals that unsettle the club’s support. He has recently stripped his social media profiles of Milan photos and references, a modern but unmistakable gesture in football’s language of discontent.
The unease deepened when he did not attend the funeral of Franco Baresi last week. For any Milan player, missing the farewell to a legend is notable. For the club captain, it raised more than a few eyebrows.
No official explanation has emerged. The silence only feeds speculation.
A captain under the microscope
In ordinary circumstances, extended holidays for World Cup veterans would barely register. FIFA calendars are brutal, and players’ bodies and minds need rest.
These are not ordinary circumstances.
Milan are trying to launch a new cycle. Their captain is not only late back, he appears emotionally distant. The team’s defensive leader is also a contractual and symbolic question mark at a time when the club can least afford more instability.
Rabiot’s case is simpler: he has pledged to return, to talk, to push on. Maignan’s gestures point in the opposite direction, even if nothing formal has been said.
A week to shape a season
By August 16, Maignan and Rabiot are expected through the doors at Milanello. One week to regain rhythm, reconnect with team-mates, absorb Amorim’s demands and prepare for Torino.
On paper, it is just another pre-season inconvenience. On the pitch, and in the stands, it feels like something larger: a test of authority for the new coach, a measure of how tightly Milan’s stars are still tied to the club’s badge.
When the captain finally walks back into the dressing room, will he look like the leader of the new Milan – or a man already halfway out of San Siro?
