Late February to late March – when Kalulu, Thiaw and Tomori should return

A lot of the talk in the media has been centred around AC Milan signing a new defender because Pierre Kalulu, Malick Thiaw and Fikayo Tomori will remain injured for some time, but how long exactly will they be out for?

Calciomercato.com confirm that negotiations are underway with Torino regarding Alessandro Buongiorno because the management want to give Stefano Pioli another reinforcement after Matteo Gabbia’s return.

That is because the top three choices in the current hierarchies are all out, starting with Pierre Kalulu, who came off injured on 29 October in the 2-2 draw against Napoli.

It was a serious problem, one that required an operation in Finland by Professor Lasse Lempainen – in the presence of the Rossoneri chief medic Stefano Mazzoni – to resolve the complete rupture of the left rectus femoris tendon.

His absence was mentioned at the time as being around four months, so we should not expect to see the Frenchman return before late March, with a step-by-step intensification of his recovery to come before in which no risks will be taken.

It is a different story for Malick Thiaw, who pulled up during the Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund on 28 November due to a muscle problem.

An operation was not necessary for the ‘severe myotendinous injury of the femoral biceps of the left thigh’, however. The German is trying to press forward with his programme and could be back available before the end of February.

That is a little before Fikayo Tomori, who was replaced during the 2-2 draw against Salernitana on 22 December. The Englishman suffered a myo-tendon injury to his right hamstring and his recovery is continuing well.

Despite this, it is too early to say whether he will recover but as of today, the timetable says the beginning of March.