Ruben Amorim spent his pre-match press conference rubbing his hands together and talking about a 19-year-old most people had barely heard of. Within 75 seconds of his Milan reign actually beginning, that teenager took the first shot of the game. By the 64th minute, Alphadjo Cissè had curled a half-volley into the far corner and slid to his knees in front of the away end. Sometimes a manager just knows.
The kid who upstaged the big money
Let's be clear about what Cissè is, on paper at least. He signed for Milan from Verona in February, spent the rest of last season on loan at Catanzaro in Serie B, scored six goals in 22 games before a thigh injury ended his campaign, and had previously played a grand total of 14 minutes in Serie A across three substitute appearances. Milan this summer also dropped a club-record €74m on Gonçalo Ramos, €50m on Diego Moreira, and €30m on Mario Gila. Cissè, born in Treviso to Guinean parents, is not in that conversation — and yet it was his name Amorim was almost singing before a ball had been kicked in anger.
The goal itself told you why. Musah won the ball in midfield, found Rabiot — a second-half substitute — on the right, and Cissè did the rest: controlling a cross with his waist, then curling a half-volley into the far corner with the composure of someone who's done it a thousand times. Rabiot added a second almost immediately. Torino's Ché Adams scored a brilliant injury-time volley, but the three points were already gone.
The numbers will travel. Cissè is the youngest Italian to score for Milan since Patrick Cutrone in 2017, and the first Italian to score for them on a debut Serie A start since Daniel Maldini in 2021. The source text wisely reminds us both those names should pump the brakes on the hype — Cutrone came off the bench for Monza this weekend, Maldini is now at Cagliari on his seventh club since 2022. Teenager scores on opening day is a story; what comes next is the actual story.
Amorim's approach and the bigger picture
Beyond Cissè, what Amorim produced at Torino was exactly what he promised. Milan controlled 70% of possession in the first half and outshot Torino 11 to one. They weren't clinical, and they'll need to be sharper — but the identity was there from minute one. After Allegri's cautious reign ended in a fifth-place finish, there's genuine appetite among the Milan fanbase for a side that sets the tempo and goes after games. Sunday suggested that appetite won't go unfed.
There's a wider point too. Serie A's consistent failure to develop and play young Italian talent has been a live debate since the Azzurri missed a third consecutive World Cup. Data cited suggests Italians in the under-21 bracket played roughly half the minutes of their foreign counterparts last season. This weekend, three Italian teenagers started at the Olympic stadium in Turin alone — Cissè, plus Torino's Diego Mascardi and Alessio Cacciamani. It's one weekend, and we're not drawing conclusions from one weekend. But it's worth watching.
Cissè, asked at full time what he made of Amorim's very public declaration of love, laughed and admitted he hadn't even seen the press conference — his mates had to fill him in. That kind of unbothered confidence, combined with the goal to back it up, is exactly the kind of thing that gets a fanbase excited. [European football had its own talking points this weekend](/getohedz/football/european-football-torres-double-rescues-psg-point-after-rennes-threaten), but Milan's opener was among the more compelling watch-again moments of round one.
Verdict: One game, three points, a performance with clear shape, and a teenager who backed up everything his manager said about him. Amorim's start could not have gone much better. Now we find out if it holds.