Milan Players with a Point to Prove Against Manchester City

Milan enter the Audi Cup with a rather thin squad, but with stiff competition from Manchester City in the semi-final and one of São Paulo or Bayern Munich to play in the final or third-place play-off, Massimiliano Allegri will be keen to see who can step up their games to win starting roles or squad places for the upcoming season.

With Napoli highly active in the transfer market and Juventus adding to their formidable squad, it feels like Milan are further away from the top two in Serie A at this stage.

But the squad contains a mixture of young players and new signings who will all be keen to impress before more established names such as Mario Balotelli and Riccardo Montolivo return from their holidays.

Here are three players with a lot to prove in Germany.

Cristian Zaccardo

Having signed from Parma in January, Cristian Zaccardo was optimistic that he would feature regularly in the Milan side, even if it was not as a starter.

After all, with Daniele Bonera injured and the starting pair of Cristian Zapata and Philippe Mexes tending to look shaky throughout the campaign, signing the 31-year-old to add some competition at a weak area of the squad made a lot of sense.

But Allegri only gave Zaccardo one league appearance, which frustrated the former Palermo defender and cast doubt on whether he would remain at Milan beyond this summer.

But without any substantial signings at centre-back—young Colombian Jherson Vergara joined from Deportes Quindio—along with the departure of Mario Yepes, Zaccardo might be able to convince enough to be a solid back-up this season.

The Rossoneri have added Inter Milan centre-back Matias Silvestre on a one-year loan, but the Argentine is not in the squad for this friendly tournament, so Zaccardo will definitely get an opportunity to impress.

Bonera is injured for up to three months with a fractured kneecap, Mexes is struggling with fitness and Zapata is not part of the squad either.

So these two matches will probably decide whether Allegri wants to persevere with Zaccardo or sell the former Azzurri international.

M'Baye Niang

M'Baye Niang enters his second season with the Rossoneri. The Frenchman's impact in his debut season was largely positive.

The 18-year-old introduced electric pace in the wide areas and allowed Milan to offer a dual threat on the wings with Stephan El Shaarawy on the opposite flank.

The former Caen forward's most memorable moment came in the Champions League, when he scuppered a glorious chance at the Camp Nou to give the Diavoli an away goal, striking a post to give Barcelona a lifeline in the tie.

Niang has fantastic potential, and with more possibilities to play through the middle—his preferred position—due to Allegri looking to play with a diamond 4-4-2 formation, we can expect him to add goals to his game this season.

El Shaarawy might be experimented in a deeper role, so Niang might be competing with Giampaolo Pazzini and Robinho for a starting role at times.

Il Faraone is the only forward in the Milan squad that would be considered to be more established in the Milan pecking order, with Primavera strikers Andrea Petagna and Kingsley Boateng making up the other options.

Niang should start at least one of the two games and will likely feature from the off against City, handing him a great chance to prove himself.

Antonio Nocerino

Antonio Nocerino was arguably Milan's best player outside of Zlatan Ibrahimovic two seasons ago, but last year was a real disappointment for the 28-year-old.

Nocerino fell out of favour and struggled to earn starts, but with Mathieu Flamini and Massimo Ambrosini—both of whom were ahead of the Italian in the pecking order last season—both departing the club this summer with their contracts not being renewed, more opportunities should fall the way of the former Palermo midfielder.

With Bakaye Traore even getting substitute appearances ahead of Nocerino, an exit seemed possible this summer, but a transfer has failed to materialise and now it appears as if the player will fight for a place in the Milan starting line-up.

Nigel De Jong and Riccardo Montolivo appear sure to start, while Andrea Poli is a strong possibility to start due to his range of passing and creativity.

Kevin-Prince Boateng would likely feature in a more advanced role behind the two strikers, so Nocerino has a real chance to win a start once more, if he can outshine Poli, or prove to Allegri that he can offer the side De Jong's defensive qualities and more.

It has been almost a year since Nocerino played for Italy, featuring in last September's World Cup qualifiers, but Cesare Prandelli will surely consider the player if he is playing more regularly with the Rossoneri.

While the significance of the Audi Cup might not be huge, the implications of a good showing from Nocerino could be the beginning of a route back into the reckoning for the Azzurri and a World Cup place.