Gerry Cardinale, Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez are expected to represent Milan at Franco Baresi’s funeral, with the rest of the squad tied up in Australia on pre-season duty.
Baresi passed away on Friday morning at the age of 66. His importance to the club needs no restating, and a large turnout is expected when the funeral is held at the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio on Tuesday.
The timing left Milan with a problem. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, scrapping the pre-season tour was ruled out immediately, and flying the squad back purely for the service would have been too tight a turnaround given their schedule Down Under.
The solution is a smaller Milan presence alongside the club’s legends and former players. Cardinale, the owner, will definitely attend to pay his respects. Pulisic and Gimenez are currently at Milanello working their way back from injury, which puts them in a position to be there too, though their attendance has not been fully confirmed.
For a club that has framed so much of its identity around Baresi, having the owner in attendance ensures Milan are formally represented on the day, even with the players scattered across the world.