Milan will be without Christian Pulisic for Sunday night's Serie A opener away at Torino, but the American is recovering faster than expected and could make the bench for the first San Siro fixture, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The squad returned to training yesterday ahead of the trip to the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, with Ruben Amorim still weighing his options in one area of the pitch before the campaign gets underway.
Pulisic has been sidelined since the United States' World Cup exit to Belgium on July 7, an injury Gazzetta describes as a hairline fracture with bone edema at the junction of the tibia and fibula. That rules him out of the trip to Turin, but his progress means he is in line to return to the matchday squad for the Venezia game at San Siro.
There is better news at the back. Matteo Gabbia rejoins group training today after the ankle knock that kept him out of the August friendly against Manchester United, leaving him available for round one.
Even so, Gazzetta expect Amorim to keep Koni De Winter in the middle of the back three after a strong showing against United, with Mario Gila and Strahinja Pavlović either side of him. Mike Maignan is set to return between the posts barring surprises.
Midfield is where the doubts sit. Adrien Rabiot only came back from his post-World Cup break on Sunday, so the expected pairing is Luka Modrić alongside one of Yunus Musah or Ardon Jashari. On the flanks, Samuel Chukwueze looks certain on the right, with Pervis Estupiñán favoured on the left.
Further forward, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alphadjo Cissé are in pole position to play behind Gonçalo Ramos, which would hand the young Cissé his Serie A debut.
The shape reads like a manager trusting the players who impressed him in pre-season over the names returning late from international duty, and the final midfield call is the one still open for Amorim to make.