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Among the smiling faces at Milanello on Tuesday were Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot, which should bring an end to the more negative talk. La Gazzetta dello Sport write that Maignan and Rabiot ‘perhaps had some hesitation over the summer at the prospect of staying at Milanello’. Who knows, the Manchester United friendly and the €50m signing of Diego Moreira may have boosted their spirits. This is a Milan side that have undergone a profound reset, but the incoming transfer market so far has brought three high-profile signings, demonstrating the desire to begin a new era by putting the squad’s needs before the wallet. Noise to quieten Maignan and Rabiot – fresh from their return to Milanello – have spent the past few weeks ‘suffering from tinnitus’. The extra vacation days have infuriated fans, especially since the vast majority of their colleagues who made it to the final stage of the World Cup had returned to their respective clubs. The controversy particularly involved Maignan, from whom some supporters expected a more dutiful conduct. This criticism was compounded by his absence from Franco Baresi’s funeral. After a month-long social media blackout, Mike returned to Instagram in the last few hours, posting his vacation. The post also included the caption ‘The story of Nasreddin and his donkey’. The meaning was effectively ‘no matter what you do in life, people will always have something to criticise’. A clear response to the critics, which was then followed by Amorim’s words. After the match against Manchester United, he explained that the extra holidays for the two Frenchmen were not a request from the players, but his own decision to allow them to recover as best as possible from the fatigue of the World Cup. If it was a white lie to settle the controversy then it doesn’t matter, as now is the time to get down to business, to put all of the external noise to one side. The first thing to address is getting confirmation from those directly involved that they’re fully committed to the project, i.e. happy and motivated to continue. This is a question owner Gerry Cardinale will ask both players directly in the coming days, when he returns to Milanello. The second aspect is strictly on the pitch: Amorim needs to understand how long he can rely on them for, especially since we’re talking about two key starters. Regarding Maignan, the coach has already announced that he’ll be in goal in Turin on Sunday evening. Rabiot, on the other hand, remains a question mark, as only one week of training for a dynamic role like his is certainly a factor to weigh up. It’s more reasonable to imagine Adrien starting on the bench, especially since the Modric-Jashari partnership looks good.