Milan assistant manager Luigi Riccio said Gonzalo Higuain’s decision to leave for Chelsea had “been in the air for a few days,” but they shrugged it off with victory at Genoa.
Higuain reportedly asked not to be brought along for the Serie A match at Marassi this afternoon, a bid to push through the transfer to London.
The team thrived in his absence, Fabio Borini and Suso scoring in a 2-0 away win.
Milan assistant manager Luigi Riccio said Gonzalo Higuain’s decision to leave for Chelsea had “been in the air for a few days,” but they shrugged it off with victory at Genoa.
Higuain reportedly asked not to be brought along for the Serie A match at Marassi this afternoon, a bid to push through the transfer to London.
The team thrived in his absence, Fabio Borini and Suso scoring in a 2-0 away win.
“It was difficult for a good half-hour, as we got too stretched out, especially on Suso’s flank, and couldn’t help Ignazio Abate and then Andrea Conti to defend. After that, we emerged and had more movement off the ball, consolidating our performance in the second half.”
Riccio, standing in for suspended Gennaro Gattuso, was asked if Milan had struggled to handle Higuain’s rejection just days after losing the Supercoppa to Juventus in Saudi Arabia.
“We struggled with the long journey from Jeddah, having played extra time in the Coppa Italia before that. With the bans, injuries, with many important players not being in top shape, they struggled to gain fitness, those are issues we struggled to deal with. As for the transfer market, we are all grown-ups, we know how to deal with these situations.”
Were Milan surprised by Higuain’s decision to walk away?
“It had been in the air for a few days, but we will work with the players at our disposal. I want to underline the great performances put in by Patrick Cutrone in the Coppa Italia, Supercoppa and today. He was exceptional in attacking the space, stretching the Genoa defence and working for the team.”
Milan lost Cristian Zapata just 13 minutes in due to an apparent thigh strain.
“Everyone has worked so hard to put themselves at the disposal of the squad when there were injury issues and absentees. Cristian Zapata is a very physical player and pretty fast defending in open spaces. He had a muscular injury and we’ll see with tests how serious it is.”