Adrien in Milan for his first training session with the Rossoneri. The France coach says he is fine and defends him from criticism. Max just has to decide when to send him onto the pitch

Adrien Rabiot is about to begin his fifth life as an adult footballer. PSG: home. Toulouse: youth. Juve: maturity. Marseille: a story that ended badly. Now it’s Milan’s turn. He will land in Milan at 10 a.m. He will have his first training session with the Rossoneri and will be reunited with Allegri, who in this story has been an additional agent… and not a secret agent: everyone knows that it was Allegri who wanted Adrien at Milan. But how is Rabiot? Is he ready to play in the league right away?

Let’s answer by looking at his break for the national teams. For Didier Deschamps, Rabiot “is fine.” The transfer saga with Marseille, who left him out of the squad from mid-August, did not affect the midfielder’s form. He first trained separately and then normally once he arrived at the France training camp. On Friday, Rabiot came on in Poland against Ukraine for about 20 minutes (France won 2-0). And again on Tuesday, he played a good half hour against Iceland, helping to shore up the midfield after Tchouameni was sent off. The Rossonero immediately got stuck in, attacking every ball, sacrificing himself in constant defensive work, and even getting involved in the occasional attacking move. All this while ignoring the boos from the Parc des Princes every time he touched the ball.

The boos and applause—  A protest due to his year in Marseille, seen as a betrayal by the fans of the capital club, where he was trained. An “unacceptable” protest for Deschamps, who pointed out that Rabiot is first and foremost a national team player. Although at the moment he has to contend with competition from the emerging Manu Koné, Roma’s midfielder. The Giallorossi player is establishing himself as a pillar alongside Tchouameni in DD’s very offensive 4-2-3-1 formation, but DD pointed out that Rabiot has played less due to his separation from Marseille. Where, incidentally, De Zerbi used him as an attacking midfielder. This is a role that does not convince Deschamps, who is waiting to see how Allegri will use him. In any case, against Iceland, Rabiot once again showed a lot of personality, even earning some applause from his former fans thanks to his effective defensive interventions in the service of the team.