Christian Pulisic's setback will not affect Milan's preparations for their Serie A match against Roma next Sunday, head coach Paulo Fonseca said.
Pulisic has missed Milan's last two league matches due to a thigh injury suffered in the 2-1 defeat to Atalanta, which has only added to Fonseca's injury problems this season.
The US international has nine goals in his team for Milan this season, with his 28 chances created also the best for the Rossoneri.
Fonseca revealed that Pulisic was now suffering from an ankle problem, meaning he would be ruled out for Milan's upcoming meeting against Roma at San Siro.
“I expected Pulisic. He is doing well, he has recovered from his calf problem, but in the last two days he has had an ankle problem,” Fonseca said.
“It arose during the recovery process and he is not ready to play tomorrow, even for the bench.”
Milan's season has been plagued by injury problems, although Fonseca expects both Alvaro Morata and Ismael Bennacer to be in action for this weekend's match.
The Rossoneri sit eighth in Serie A, fourteen points behind leaders Atalanta, while they are also eight points off the Champions League places.
Fonseca said Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be back next week, while Yunus Musah and Rafael Leao will aim to be fit for their Italian Super Cup match against Juventus.
“We have 11 anyway,” the 51-year-old added.
Fonseca previously coached Roma for two years between 2019 and 2021, winning 53 of his 102 games in charge (D21 L28), finishing with a winning percentage of 51.96%.
“Roma is a great club, they have a great team,” he said. “I have a lot of friends there. But in the ninety minutes I only have the thought of winning.”
Milan have kept at least six clean sheets in their first eight home games in a Serie A season for the second time in the three-points-for-a-win era, after 2002-03 (seven).
However, the Rossoneri have not scored as many goals in three of their last four home games as they had in the previous 45, but Fonseca said it is too early to write off his team.
“The mood is good. I couldn't be more positive after the last training sessions,” he concluded.
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