USMNT stars Christian Pulisic & Yunus Musah told by legendary former AC Milan boss why they form part of transfer problem at San Siro

The United States internationals made their way to San Siro during the summer of 2023 – with moves completed from Chelsea and Valencia respectively. Pulisic and Musah have contributed to the collective cause in Milan, with their work rate being admired, but the Rossoneri have struggled for consistency.

Asked by Gazzetta dello Sport to try and explain those issues, Sacchi – who guided the club to the Serie A title and two European Cup wins during his time as boss – said: “Simply: it’s not a squad. I should say, sometimes it is and sometimes it looks like complete darkness. There is no continuity, it’s too fluctuating. In Salerno there was no collective idea, but a group that was scattered all over the pitch. Everyone does their own thing. The defence is in difficulty because the attackers aren’t helping. This is the real problem. The fact is that there are players who don’t have continuity of performance.”

Sacchi went on to say of how deals for the likes of Pulisic and Musah have not worked out as planned for Milan: “In my opinion, in the summer transfer market. Only foreign players were brought in, who hadn’t had brilliant experiences beforehand. Also, they had to get used to Italian football. But we need to understand that it can be difficult for young lads arriving from abroad to settle in immediately. Even great champions have had difficulties at the beginning. If you build a completely new team based on foreigners, you need to have patience. But patience in football, as we know, is a rare commodity.”

Milan were held to a 2-2 draw by Salernitana in their last fixture, leading to more pressure being lumped onto the shoulders of manager Stefano Pioli. Sacchi said when quizzed on whether a change in the dugout could be made: “I don’t think the problem will be solved by getting rid of the coach. Pioli has done great things, but he hasn’t managed to show continuity in his work. But it must be said, I don’t know if there is anyone around who would be able to bring continuity to this squad.”

Milan will be back in action when playing host to Sassuolo on December 30. They will enter that contest sat third in the Serie A standings, 11 points back on table-topping arch-rivals Inter and with Pulisic and Co under pressure to deliver a reversal in fortune heading into 2024.