AC Milan not jealous of Liverpool, boss Allegri says on eve of Hong Kong clash

Massimiliano Allegri, the AC Milan manager, has tipped a capacity crowd at the Hong Kong Football Festival to rouse his team into life against Liverpool on Saturday, days after the Italians lost to Arsenal in Singapore.

And he said there was “no jealousy” over Liverpool’s mammoth summer transfer spend as he prepared his players to take on the English Premier League champions.

Liverpool this week added the US$112 million capture of Hugo Ekitike to the signings of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giorgi Mamadashvili.

Allegri has brought in veteran midfielder Luka Modric – who is not in Hong Kong – midfielder Samuele Ricci, and Pervis Estupinan, who travelled from England on Friday after completing a move from Brighton & Hove Albion.

“I’m happy with my team, we’re working in the market to find the right players,” he said.

A thunderstorm threatened to blow Milan’s public training session off course at a sodden Hong Kong Stadium on Friday night, before the rain relented to allow a few thousand fans to see their favourites put through their paces.