Less than two months before Euro 2024 in Germany (June 14 – July 14), some players are trying everything in the hope of grabbing points in the minds of the selectors. And this is the case of Yacine Adli who recently slammed the door on the Algerian selection to try to find a place in the French team. Although he is still far from wearing the Blues jersey, the player trained at Paris Saint-Germain is nevertheless giving himself the means to achieve it: “I said that my goal was to play at the highest level, which does not mean that the Algerian selection is not the very high level, but simply that the challenge is higher for me to want to join the French team”, the French community defended itself. The trio Aurélien Tchouaméni – Adrien Rabiot – Antoine Griezmann also seems to lock in the French rotation, just like Eduardo Camavinga on the bench as a luxury solution. The AC Milan player hopes to be able to sit in one of the last seats on the plane, normally reserved for Youssouf Fofana, Warren Zaire-Emery or Mattéo Guendouzi. In Lombardy, Yacine Adli is becoming one of the best midfielders in Serie A, being ranked 5th among the players with the best distribution in Europe behind Toni Kroos, Granit Xhaka, Frenkie De Jong and Rodri.
“He is the example of someone who believes in it, a symbol of the group, of someone who works and does not indulge in the negative. He’s also been good at switching roles over the course of the season, so he deserves all of this. Changing roles also changes the way you understand the game. Last year he played attacking midfielder and he struggled to find his place this summer. But he was very motivated to access this position, he is not yet perfect but he is doing well”, recently affirmed his trainer Stefano Pioli. Moreover, under contract until June 2026, Yacine Adli is currently in advanced negotiations with the Milanese management led by the trio Giorgio Furlani – Geoffrey Moncada – Zlatan Ibrahimović to renew his lease with the Lombard club. While AC Milan could well experience a small period of transition next summer (from the squad to the technical staff), Adli has a real role to play in the future Rossonero remodeling project.
High responsibilities assumed
In recent weeks, Yacine Adli has established himself as an indisputable starter in the Milan environment. Against Lecce, the Franco-Algerian delivered two assists with a high volume of play, displaying 135 balls touched and completing 110 of his 120 attempted passes. A ramp-up at the best of times, while AC Milan will play crucial matches in the days to come, notably the Derby della Madonnina against Inter: “I never gave up, I always tried to give my best in training, the better you train, the more the team can grow. Even when I wasn’t playing, I put all my attention into giving something to this group., declared the former Parisian midfielder. Out of his 20 appearances in the league this season, Adli has started fifteen times, the vast majority of which will be in 2024. Thus, he today represents one of the key players in Pioli’s system. Some fans even got excited by comparing him to Andrea Pirlo on social networks after his great performance against Lecce.
While the Rossoneri had taken their heads out of the water by finding good colors for several weeks, AC Milan fell in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League at San Siro against their compatriots AS Roma. The return scheduled for Thursday at the Stadio Olimpico is highly anticipated and this will be a valuable opportunity for Yacine Adli to continue his progress in the European spotlight: “It’s part of football, we have a second leg and we want to go to Rome to reverse the result, we believe in it. We want to do another performance at their place. It will be hard because they are strong, what matters is now, we will have time to prepare as best we can for the return match., explained the native of Vitry-sur-Seine, while he is also increasingly assuming his responsibilities in front of the Italian press, at press conferences as well as in the mixed zone. If it would be a little premature to talk about a surprise guest at Euro 2024 in Didier Deschamps’ list, Yacine Adli could well have a real future in Blue given his constant progression at only 23 years old…
