Allegri, Inzaghi rubbish rift rumours

AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri and former star striker Filippo Inzaghi have quashed rumours of a rift.

Reports suggested the pair had become embroiled in a bizarre training ground row.

Allegri turned up at the Vismara Centre this week, which hosts the club’s youth teams, to observe training. It was speculated here that Inzaghi, who now manages Milan’s youth team, accused the 45-year-old of not taking his job seriously.

The two men appeared in a press conference on the Milan Channel to dispel the rumours.

“Nothing happened, absolutely nothing,” Allegri said.

“There is no problem with Pippo. In fact, there is great collaboration between the first team and the youth sectors. There was an exchange of opinions without any offense or heavy words.”

The 2006 World Cup winner was at pains to back up the message by the former Cagliari coach.

“Allegri is right, it lasted for one minute,” he said.

“The youth team players didn’t notice anything because nothing happened.

“We are Milan and we all love Milan, so nothing like that would have occurred. Rather than writing about things that didn’t happen, Milan need a helping hand.”

Allegri went onto proclaim Inzaghi has all the attributes needed to be a top manager and even touted him as a potential successor, though, made it clear he himself plans to stay at Milan for a long time.

“I hope to remain at Milan for some time to come,” Allegri added.

“But I won’t be here forever and I think that Filippo has all the characteristics needed to have an excellent career as a coach. He’s started from an excellent base and he can do a good job.”