Ruben Amorim will be missing eight players for Milan's friendly against Man Utd tomorrow, with Matteo Gabbia the latest name ruled out through injury.
The match in Poland closes out pre-season, and it arrives with the squad picked apart by a mix of fitness problems and exit-list decisions. Amorim has already set several players aside as they wait on moves away, which thins the group further before a game that would otherwise be useful minutes.
Gabbia's absence is the new development. According to Vitiello, among other reports, the centre-back took a knock to his ankle in training and will stay behind in Milan over the weekend as a precaution. He joins Santiago Gimenez, Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leão, whose absences were already known, in sitting this one out.
That leaves defence particularly exposed, with Filippo Terracciano set to feature again despite being expected to leave before the window shuts. Handing him the final friendly is awkward given where his future is pointing, but the numbers give Amorim little choice.
Pieced together, the likely starting eleven reads: Torriani; Terracciano, De Winter, Pavlović; Saelemaekers, Modrić, Ricci, Bartesaghi; Loftus-Cheek, Cissé; Ramos.
It is a lineup shaped by who is available rather than who Amorim would pick, and the next question is how much the picture changes once the mercato settles the futures of those on the fringes.