Milan's Double Blow: Saelemaekers Faces Second Ankle Surgery, Estupinan Out With Knee Injury
Milan confirmed Saelemaekers' ankle has lost stability at the site of his 2024 operation, hours after Estupinan withdrew from Ecuador duty with an MCL problem. Fifth place, two points off the top, and the depth is being tested.
Published 6 Oct 20262 min read
AC Milan's medical department has had the weekend from hell. Within hours of each other, the club confirmed that Alexis Saelemaekers' right ankle has lost stability at the site of his 2024 operation and that Pervis Estupinan had withdrawn from the Ecuador squad with a knee ligament problem — a double blow that lands with Milan fifth in Serie A, two points off the top.
Saelemaekers: the ankle will not hold
Saelemaekers, now back at San Siro after loan spells with Bologna and Roma, underwent further examinations over the weekend after a recent training injury. Milan's statement was bleak: specialist tests showed the ankle — the same one operated on in 2024 for a medial malleolus fracture — has lost stability at the site of the previous surgery. The most likely outcome is a second operation to stabilise it, and reports in Italy suggest the layoff would be a long one, with some fearing a spell that could stretch deep into next year. The Belgian had registered 13 goals and 20 assists in 185 appearances for the club.
Estupinan and the international break bill
Estupinan became the break's other casualty, leaving the Ecuador camp after complaining of severe discomfort in his leg, later diagnosed as a collateral medial ligament issue in his left knee. Early reads suggest a low-grade sprain rather than a rupture, but he will undergo further checks when he returns to Italy. Losing two wide options at once is a genuine tactical headache: Saelemaekers was effectively a utility player who could operate behind the strikers or on either flank, and Estupinan is the first-choice left-back.
Who covers the gaps
The immediate weight falls on Alphadjo Cisse and Christian Pulisic in the attacking roles, while Bartesaghi and Moreira give the left flank some cover until Estupinan returns. Milan sit on 11 points, two behind leaders Roma, and the depth that looked like a strength in August now has to prove it.
One training injury and one international casualty in a single weekend. Milan will just want October to slow down.