Alphadjo Cisse needed only 49 minutes to turn an AC Milan Europa League appearance into a major moment in his career. The 19-year-old scored a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Salzburg on 15 October, ending a 24-year wait for an AC Milan player to score three goals in a European competition since Filippo Inzaghi in 2002.
The performance also strengthened manager Ruben Amorim’s decision to trust the young attacking midfielder, whose progress had already been attracting attention before his move to AC Milan.
Cisse was born in Treviso, Italy, in October 2006 to parents of Guinean origin. Despite a name that might suggest a connection to Senegal, there is no apparent link to the country.
He joined Hellas Verone’s academy in 2020 and developed quickly. During the 2023-24 season, he scored 16 goals in the Italian youth championship before making his first senior appearances. He made his debut in the Coppa Italia and played his first Serie A minutes against Inter in May 2024.
A loan move to Catanzaro for the 2025-26 season proved important. Competing regularly against experienced players in Italy’s second division, Cisse scored six goals and provided one assist in 22 matches. Those numbers helped convince AC Milan that he was ready for another step.
In February 2026, AC Milan announced his signing from Hellas Verone, while allowing him to remain at Catanzaro until the end of the season. A thigh injury restricted his involvement during the final part of the campaign and delayed his move. He arrived at AC Milan still recovering, having to adapt physically while settling into a stronger squad.
He has nevertheless made an immediate impact. Cisse scored on his Serie A debut for AC Milan in the 2-1 victory against Torino and also found the net against Juventus before his three-goal display against Salzburg.
Although listed as a midfielder, Cisse is not a conventional player whose main task is to dictate the tempo through possession. He operates more vertically, receiving between the lines, driving towards the defence and turning those runs into shots or final passes.
A right-footed player who can begin from a wide position, he cuts inside, attacks the space between full-back and centre-back and either shoots or supplies a team-mate. He can also play centrally behind the striker, on the wing or as a false nine. His control of long passes, one-touch play, through balls and inside dribbling give him a role in both creating and finishing attacks.
At Catanzaro, which used a 3-4-2-1 formation, he often operated as one of the two players behind the striker, starting on the left before moving infield. Amorim uses the same structure, although Cisse must now learn when to accelerate and when to retain possession.
His six Catanzaro goals came from chances worth about 2.67 expected goals (xG), suggesting impressive finishing, although the sample is too small to establish whether he can sustain that efficiency.
Cisse has represented Italy at under-16, under-18 and under-19 level. He made his Italy Under-21 debut against Poland in November 2025 in European Under-21 Championship qualifying, and scored in stoppage time during the latest international break to secure a 1-0 win over Armenia.
However, he remains eligible for Guinea. Under FIFA rules, his youth appearances do not bind him permanently; that happens only after a first senior appearance in an official match. Cisse has yet to play for a senior national team.
Aly Badara Cisse, coach of Guinea Under-17s, has praised his qualities and said Guinea needs players of his level to progress internationally. The Guinean federation is expected to present him with an “ambitious project” as part of its approach to dual nationals. Some Italy supporters are already calling for his senior selection, but Cisse has not publicly revealed his preference.