Yacine Adli "always" had Milan in his mind while spending last season on loan at former club Bordeaux, and he arrives in Serie A with high expectations of what he could achieve.
The attacking midfielder, who turns 22 later this month, officially signed for Milan last August but remained in Ligue 1 for the 2021-22 campaign.
It ended up being a miserable one for Bordeaux, who finished bottom of the table and were then hit with a further demotion to the third tier due to their financial difficulties. The sanction was upheld after an initial appeal.
Adli knew his future was already settled, and with Bordeaux in turmoil, he unsurprisingly had greener pastures in his thoughts for much of the season.
While he was attempting to help Bordeaux dig themselves out of a hole, Milan were fighting – and ultimately won – a Serie A title battle, clinching their first Scudetto in 11 years.
As such, Adli has designs on grand achievements at San Siro.
Speaking to reporters at his official presentation on Monday, Adli said: "[Last season] wasn't an easy one. I always played my best for Bordeaux, I tried to focus on my role in the team there, although I always had Milan in mind – to get here and do my best.
"I've been wanting to arrive here in the best shape possible. I already knew some of my team-mates, but I have to adapt to the new surroundings.
"My French team-mates have adapted quickly to the club. I arrive with a different experience and in the team of the Italian champions. I arrive with humility and respect to achieve the greatest goals.
"I followed very closely the Milan games last season, and I saw a strong, tight, collective effort, especially towards the end of the season when no false moves could be made.
"A successful team like Milan can only aspire to [win] the Scudetto. It's not easy because in Italy there is a lot of competition. Once again this year we will try to confirm ourselves as Italian champions, we will try to defend this title in the best possible way."
The Paris Saint-Germain youth product joined Bordeaux in 2019 and developed into one of Ligue 1's most promising young players.
A technically gifted midfielder, Adli is most at home in a creative role, with much of his time on the pitch for Bordeaux spent in a central attacking position behind the striker.
Over the course of his three years with Bordeaux, only nine players (minimum of 1,500 minutes played) averaged more than his 1.6 open-play chances created in Ligue 1.
Sixteen bettered Adli's 15 assists over the same period, though seven of those came in the 2021-22 campaign alone, and it should be noted he was a young player in a team who never finished higher than 12th.
Admittedly, his productivity suffered significantly in the second half of 2021-22, managing to set up just one goal after the turn of the year, but again he was in a side who were in free fall as they lost 11 times and won only three games in 2022.
Despite his struggles and those of Bordeaux, Milan appear to have acquired a talent who will provide guaranteed creativity behind the forwards.
As a French attacking midfielder moving to Italy from Bordeaux, Zinedine Zidane was always likely to be mentioned during Adli's presentation, yet it was instead a former Rossoneri attacker he highlighted a particular admiration for thanks to a connection with George Weah.
"I had the chance to train with Timothy Weah [at PSG], and he always advised me to watch Roberto Baggio as an example because I could learn a lot from him – and so I did," Adli said.
"Great champions like him and Zidane are players to look up to but without trying to emulate them because [their status] is unattainable.
"I believe it's important to create your own path and work every day to get better."
Fonseca: Venezia treated with same importance as Liverpool or Inter
After three games without a win, Paulo Fonseca's main focus is getting a first victory of the season against Venezia, without looking ahead to other big matches.
Fonseca is already under pressure, with Milan having collected only two points from three games, and with their first Champions League match at home to Liverpool on Tuesday followed by a derby clash with Inter next weekend, things could get even worse.
For now, though, the 51-year-old badly needs a win and, with the visit of Venezia to San Siro the priority, Fonseca has prepared his 14th-placed team to take on the promoted side, who have one point and are second-bottom in the standings.
"They [games] are all important, even more so at this time. I am confident, as always. It's important to win on Saturday, then we'll think about Liverpool," Fonseca told a press conference.
"Milan must always win, not just on Saturday. I looked at Venezia. They are a dangerous team on the counter-attack.
"Against Parma [2-1 defeat] we suffered, but against Lazio [2-2 draw] we improved a lot. The problem was defensive organisation. We worked on it. We know Venezia's strong point, and we are prepared."
Milan have conceded six goals in three games, with no other Serie A side allowing more so far this season, and the international break has given Fonseca time to work on their defensive problems.
"We didn't have many players during the break, but we had many defenders. We worked on the behaviour of the defensive line and on individual behaviour," he added.
"We have to improve on the many goals conceded. A team that doesn't want to concede goals must keep the ball more. We are working on it.
"The players understand the importance of keeping the ball and managing the game with the ball."
Fonseca is well aware of the scrutiny he is under after the poor start to the season, but the real pressure comes from the fans, who will again be there supporting Milan on Saturday.
"We coaches always are [under scrutiny], we depend on the results. But I'm just focused on my work," Fonseca said.
"After these first three games, having 70,000 supporters is a great declaration of love.
"It's also a big responsibility for us, to keep evolving and make the fans proud of us. That's what we want to do tomorrow, repay the support of our fans."
Arteta believes Sterling has point to prove as debut awaits
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes Raheem Sterling has a point to prove following his deadline-day move from Chelsea.
Sterling made the journey across London late in the transfer window after being deemed surplus to requirements by Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.
The 29-year-old, who is with the Gunners on a season-long loan, could make his debut in the North London derby against Tottenham on Sunday and Arteta, who worked with him during his time as an assistant coach at Manchester City, has enjoyed linking up with the Englishman again so far.
Arteta said of Sterling: "He looks great. First of all, because he has a big smile on his face, a lot of energy. He's at it and wants to prove a point."
The Spaniard has already seen a desire from Sterling to return to his past form, which saw him win four Premier League titles with City, and score 123 Premier League goals.
"When someone has got that in his belly you sense it straight away," said Arteta.
"Obviously, I don't need to discover anything about his quality and what he can bring to the team.
"What I see is hunger. He is a player who wants to play every minute of every game. When that is not the case, he's not happy."
Arteta refused to rule out the possibility of Martin Odegaard being involved on Sunday, despite the midfielder sustaining an ankle injury during the international break.
Norway's national team doctor said Odegaard would be out for the next three weeks, but the Arsenal boss was bullish about his chances of possibly being involved.
He said: "We need some more tests so let's see what happens in the next day or so, this afternoon probably, and see what happens with the extent of the injury and how quickly we can get him back.
“"48 hours until the game, players could always become available, but let's see what happens."
Arteta signed a new three-year contract during the week, having been appointed in December 2019, and said his strong feelings towards the club made the decision to extend a no-brainer.
"The emotional attachment that I have, that my family has, and my kids have [to Arsenal], as well as the experience that I have and the moment [I am sharing] with the people - it is too strong," said the 42-year-old.
"We are going in the right direction, we have made some huge steps, and we have a lot still to make."
Houston Dynamo v Real Salt Lake: Mastroeni relishes challenge of integrating new players
Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni is looking forward to seeing how his new players settle in, with Houston Dynamo next up in MLS.
RSL brought in five new faces in the transfer window, with some of those introduced during their 2-0 win over New England Revolution last time out.
They currently sit third in the Western Conference, five points behind leaders LA Galaxy, and with teams below them starting to close in.
And with only seven games left of the regular season, Mastroeni is eager to get the new players integrated as soon as possible.
"A lot of problems to solve, but it allows us to collaborate as a team and figure out on the fly quickly how these new players can bring their skill sets to make our team better," he told KSL Sports Zone.
"It completely changes the dynamic of everything up to this point, but if we play with the right mentality, aggressive on both sides of the ball, then the acclimation of the new players will be much easier as the players show what our standards are."
Meanwhile, Houston have lost just two of their last 13 MLS matches and sit seventh in the table.
They have a good record against RSL too, losing just one of their nine meetings, and Ben Olsen is excited to face off against them once more.
"They're fun games," Olsen said. "We continue to look at the schedule and Salt Lake keep popping up.
"They're a very good team, if not a little bit different. We'll have to be at our best and defensively sound like we were against LAFC, but a little sharper in and around the goal."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Houston Dynamo – Steve Clark
Houston Dynamo played Los Angeles FC in back-to-back MLS games, winning one and drawing the other without conceding a single goal.
It is the first time the Dynamo have kept a clean sheet in consecutive games since March this year, when they registered consecutive 1-0 wins over Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids.
Real Salt Lake – Braian Ojeda
Braian Ojeda got his second assist of the MLS season last weekend in Real Salt Lake's 2-0 win over New England Revolution.
However, he also had the most touches (88), made the most passes (67), with more accurate passes than any of his team-mates.
MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN
This will be the ninth meeting between the Dynamo and Real Salt Lake since the start of the 2023 season. Houston have won four of the nine meetings (D3 L1) with Real Salt Lake's only win coming in the first meeting of this year's regular season, a 3-2 home win on July 3.
However, Houston have won just three of their last 13 home matches in all competitions (D7 L3) dating back to late March. One of those three wins was a 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake in the Leagues Cup on August 5.
Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake have won only one of their last 10 away matches in all competitions (D5 L4) dating back to the beginning of May, including losing two straight away from home for the first time in 2024, with the second of those the 3-0 loss at Houston in the Leagues Cup.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Houston Dynamo – 50.2%
Draw – 25.2%
Real Salt Lake – 24.6%
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