Matteo Gabbia says the Milan squad have no choice but to chase trophies this season, in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport in which he touched on Ruben Amorim's methods, Rafael Leao's future, Mario Gila's arrival and Luka Modric.
Gabbia's voice matters more than his minutes suggest. He was the one fronting the cameras after last season's worst nights, and Gerry Cardinale chose to sit near him at a recent squad lunch. When a defender who isn't guaranteed to start every week is the one setting expectations publicly, it tells you where he sits in the dressing room hierarchy, and it makes his read on the Amorim transition worth listening to.
That transition is the real subject here. Milan finished eighth last season and enter this one without European football beyond the Europa League, which is exactly why the words coming out of Milanello about ambition are being scrutinised. Gabbia is refusing to lower the bar. "The only way is to win, starting from the league debut on August 23rd in Turin," he said, framing the Europa League as a target rather than a burden.
On Amorim, Gabbia confirmed the obvious: this is a bigger break from the past than any of the recent coaching changes. The Portuguese wants immediate counter-pressing, a habit this squad did not have under Sergio Conceicao or Stefano Pioli before him. Gabbia was careful to describe it as collective work rather than a simple instruction to push the back line higher. "It would be too banal to think 'the defenders need to stay twenty metres further forward'," he said. For a centre-back being asked to defend a higher line in a back three, that's a meaningful admission that the shape is still being built.
On Leao, Gabbia stayed loyal without pretending the situation is settled. He called Rafa someone "everyone here loves" and added that "those who remain at Milan must do so by prioritising the club and the team," a line that reads less like reassurance and more like a standard the Portuguese is being held to. The uncertainty around Leao's role in Amorim's system remains the biggest open question of Milan's summer.
He was warmer on the new arrival. Mario Gila, signed from Lazio, has "presented himself at Milanello very well," according to Gabbia, who framed him as a known quantity from years of Serie A meetings. The addition of Gila is also part of why the defensive picture is shifting, with competition for places suddenly real rather than theoretical.
Then there's Modric, whose signing at 40 has been the summer's most romantic move. Gabbia's affection for him was clear: "He's taught me lessons that go beyond football." The detail that sticks is his claim that he has never once heard Modric contradict a coach, an unusual thing to say about a Ballon d'Or winner and a small window into why Milan wanted his standards in the room as much as his feet.
Words are cheap in July, and Milan have delivered plenty of confident pre-season messaging before. The Turin opener on August 23rd is where Gabbia's "the only way is to win" gets its first real test.