Teenage midfielder 'Alpha' Cisse catapulted into the limelight after scoring on Milan debut

MILAN — Teenager Alphadjo Cisse has spent most of the past week answering questions on how to pronounce his surname after being unexpectedly catapulted into the limelight on his AC Milan debut.

“Cisse, without the accent,” he has explained with a smile in several interviews.

Commentators have been scrambling to learn the correct pronunciation since the 19-year-old midfielder was given his first start for Milan and scored the opener as the Rossoneri kicked off their season with a 2-1 win at Torino on Sunday.

Fans just call him by his nickname: “Alpha.” And there were hundreds of them chanting just that as Cisse made an appearance at Milan’s flagship store on Wednesday.

“It’s an amazing feeling. Not even in a dream could I have imagined making my debut and scoring a goal,” Cisse said.

There was little fanfare when Cisse was signed by Milan from Hellas Verona for 8 million euros in February. The attacking midfielder was immediately lent back to second-division team Catanzaro, where he had been on loan from Verona.

Cisse was almost sent out on loan again in the summer but he excelled in preseason, convincing coach Ruben Amorim to keep him.

“The coach always gave me the chance to express myself, and he gave me this opportunity and we can say I’ve managed a bit to seize it,” Cisse said with a smile.

Milan’s next match is at home to Venezia on Friday.

Milan trying to offload players in transfer window

Milan has reportedly told Fikayo Tomori, Youssouf Fofana and Santiago Giménez that they will not be part of the squad anymore even if the club has not managed to offload the trio before the transfer window closes next week.

Giménez looks set to move to Porto but Milan is holding out for more money, while Italian media reports there has been interest in Tomori and Fofana but no concrete offers.