Mario Gila has avoided a serious injury, with tests confirming only a strain to his right rectus femoris after he was forced off against Celtic.
This is the news Milan needed. Gila is a summer arrival brought in to solidify a back line that leaked too many goals last season, and losing a new centre-back to a long layup before the campaign even starts would have been a nightmare for Amorim's plans. Any injury to a defender in pre-season sets off alarm bells, especially one Milan just spent real money to sign. A muscle tear would have meant weeks of missed integration time, precisely what a new player can least afford.
The scare came at Celtic Park. Amorim sent Gila on for the second half, and the Spaniard looked comfortable early before pulling up around 20 minutes in, stopping play himself while in possession and gesturing to the bench that he needed to come off. That kind of self-substitution usually points to something muscular, and it did.
The club confirmed the diagnosis this morning, as reported by Antonio Vitiello. The tests ruled out anything serious and identified a strain in the right rectus femoris, one of the four muscles in the quad. He will need rest, and the exact timeline should firm up as the day goes on.
Missing the remaining friendlies is not ideal for a defender still learning a new system and new partners, but this is close to the best outcome available once he felt something and had to stop. A tear threatens the season's opening weeks. A strain threatens a friendly or two.
The recovery window looks like a handful of weeks at most, and the real question is whether he is fit for the Serie A opener rather than whether his season is compromised. That is the version of this story Milan will happily take.