Milan opened talks for Merih Demiral earlier this month but failed to find a deal for the Al-Ahli centre back, reports detail.
The Rossoneri have been dealing with a defensive injury crisis for months now and fans had hoped reinforcements would arrive in the January transfer window, but so far the club have been fairly quiet, only signing right back Filippo Terracciano and bringing back Matteo Gabbia.
Milan are still without Malick Thiaw, Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu, who are all still recovering from various injuries. In recent weeks, Stefano Pioli adapted Theo Hernandez to play in the centre of defence to act as cover.
As reported by Daniele Longo of Calciomercato.com, Milan opened talks with Al-Ahli around 20 days ago to start exploring a move for Demiral, keen to finally add the defender to their squad on loan until the summer.
Talks struggled to progress, however, as it quickly became apparent that the Rossoneri didn’t have the resources necessary to agree a deal, with the Turkish defender earning a salary of almost €13m net per season.
#Milan, contatto diretto per #Demiral: il retroscena. Ecco perché il colpo in difesa non sarà fatto a tutti i costi https://t.co/sNV0teV3rl pic.twitter.com/kvxlp2ZTwB
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) January 29, 2024