Tension in Milan as Maignan and Rabiot Extend Holidays
Tension grows in Milan as Maignan and Rabiot push holidays to the limit
With less than two weeks to go before the new Serie A season kicks off, Milan’s preseason is already carrying the weight of a storm. A new coach, an unsettled squad, and now two of the club’s most important players choosing to cut it fine.
Ruben Amorim arrived in Milan knowing he was stepping into a rebuild. What he did not need was his captain and his senior midfielder walking back through the gates at Milanello just seven days before the first ball is kicked in anger.
Yet that is exactly what will happen.
Holidays extended, patience shortened
Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot, both involved deep into the 2026 World Cup with France, were originally due back on August 14. The date was set, the planning done. Now it has shifted. The pair have opted to extend their holidays until August 16, leaving Amorim with only a week to integrate them before Milan open their campaign against Torino.
On paper, two days might not sound like a crisis. In the current Milan context, it feels like another crack in the surface.
Amorim’s squad is far from settled. Several first-team players still need to be moved on before the club can truly back their new coach in the market. Rafael Leao’s future hangs in the balance, the kind of unresolved saga that seeps into every training session and every tactical meeting. The clock keeps ticking; the squad keeps changing shape.
Now the captain and the midfield leader will be last through the door.
Fans look across the city – and don’t like what they see
The reaction among sections of the Rossoneri support has been sharp. Not only because of the timing, but because of the comparison.
Across the city, Inter players who also went the distance at the World Cup are already back. Lautaro Martinez and John Stones have returned to work under Cristian Chivu, setting a tone that some Milan fans expected – or at least hoped – to see mirrored at Milanello.
Instead, the image is different: Maignan and Rabiot still on extended breaks while Amorim tries to construct a new identity without two of his central pillars.
Rabiot’s words, Maignan’s silence
Rabiot’s position, for now, seems the more straightforward. During the World Cup he made it clear he would return to Milan, sit down with Amorim, and “go again” in 2026-27. His message was one of continuity and renewed effort, even if his late return has irked part of the fanbase.
Maignan is another story.
The goalkeeper, currently serving as Milan captain, has given off a very different set of signals. He has recently scrubbed his social media profiles of Milan-related images and references, a move that rarely goes unnoticed in the modern game. For a player wearing the armband, it lands with extra weight.
Questions over his happiness at San Siro have been simmering. This latest gesture only turns up the heat.
A captain under the microscope
If the social media clean-up raised doubts, what happened last week deepened them. Maignan did not attend the funeral of Franco Baresi, the legendary Rossoneri icon whose name is etched into the club’s history. For a Milan captain, his absence did not go unnoticed.
In isolation, a missed funeral and a few deleted photos might be explained away. In the current climate, they feed a narrative: a captain whose bond with the club is loosening at the very moment a new era is supposed to be taking shape.
Amorim, still learning the corridors of Milanello and the politics of the dressing room, now walks into this delicate situation. He needs Maignan’s authority, Rabiot’s experience, and a united dressing room. Instead, he is forced to wait, plan around absences, and answer questions about players who are not yet back in the building.
A season starting on edge
The season opener against Torino is closing in. The transfer window remains open, Leao’s future unresolved, and two of Milan’s most influential figures will only rejoin the group a week before the whistle blows.
For a club trying to turn the page and launch a new cycle under Amorim, the mood around Milanello feels anything but serene.
The holidays will end. The World Cup glow will fade. When Maignan and Rabiot finally walk back into the dressing room on August 16, the real question will be simple: are they returning to lead Milan forward, or to step into a club bracing itself for even bigger upheaval?
