Ismaël Bennacer Leaves Milan for Al-Gharafa in Qatar

Ismaël Bennacer’s time at Milan ends not with a roar at San Siro, but with a signature on a termination agreement and a farewell filmed for a phone screen.

Milan have confirmed the mutual termination of the Algerian’s contract, clearing the way for his move to Al-Gharafa in the Qatar Stars League. At 28, a player who once set the tempo in Serie A now starts again in the Gulf, under Pedro Martins and far from the noise of the Curva Sud.

From Scudetto cornerstone to the treatment table

Bennacer has not played a competitive match for Milan since February 2025. A serious knee injury halted his rise, then pushed him into the shadows. For the last 18 months he has tried to rebuild himself on loan, first at Marseille, then at Dinamo Zagreb, while Milan moved on without him.

It’s a harsh contrast to how his Milan story began.

Signed from Empoli in 2019, Bennacer quickly became one of the pillars of Stefano Pioli’s project. He made 178 appearances in red and black, a relentless presence in midfield, snapping into tackles, knitting passes, and giving Milan a heartbeat in tight games.

His peak in Italy came in 2021-22. That season, he was central to Milan’s charge to their 19th Serie A title, a Scudetto that felt like a rebirth for a club desperate to return to the summit. When Pioli’s side needed control, Bennacer offered it. When they needed bite, he delivered that too.

Since his arrival, only six players – headed by Rafael Leão with 291 appearances – have played more games for Milan than the Algerian. That statistic alone underlines his weight in the dressing room and on the pitch.

A farewell from the heart

There was no lap of honour, no final ovation. Instead, Bennacer chose an emotional video message on social media to say goodbye.

“Dear Milan fans. Last year, I said goodbye without ever thinking those words would turn out to be a farewell,” he admitted, letting the supporters into a truth he perhaps struggled to accept himself.

“For more than five years, I wore this shirt with pride and passion alongside incredible team-mates, supported by your unconditional love. Winning the Scudetto in this shirt is one of the most beautiful memories of my career, and playing in front of you at San Siro was one of the greatest honours.”

The words carried the weight of someone who knows he leaves a piece of himself behind. For a player who thrived on emotion and intensity, Milan was never just a stop on the way.

With the contract now dissolved, the curtain comes down definitively on his time with the Rossoneri, after those recent loan spells made the separation feel gradual, almost inevitable.

A new chapter in Qatar, a new era at Milan

Al-Gharafa now becomes Bennacer’s next stage. The Qatari club, who finished fourth last season, offer him a fresh start and a manager in Pedro Martins who will try to rebuild both his confidence and his rhythm. The environment will be different, the stakes less suffocating than in Milan, but the expectation to lead will follow him.

Back in Europe, Milan are already living in a different present.

Rúben Amorim is now in charge, tasked with shaping a new cycle. His team are wrapping up an Asian pre-season tour that includes a high-profile friendly against Chelsea at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, another test of his ideas against elite opposition.

From there, the Rossoneri head to the Tarczynski Arena in Poland to face Manchester United, a fixture that still carries weight, even in pre-season. Then the real business begins: the 2026-27 Serie A campaign kicks off away to Torino on August 23.

By then, Bennacer will be thousands of kilometres away, chasing a different kind of challenge. Milan will line up without a midfielder who once embodied their resurgence.

The club moves forward. He does too. The question now is not what Bennacer was for Milan, but what he can still become in the next act of his career.