The biggest surprise from Milan’s transfer window was being left with Tiemoue Bakayoko, who did not terminate his contract by mutual consent and the high-earning Chelsea-owned midfielder is now a problem.
The 28-year-old is still owned by Chelsea, but moved to San Siro on a two-season loan for €3m last summer with an obligation to buy at €17m if he manages at least 15 appearances of 45 minutes or more in the 2022-23 campaign.
That seems highly unlikely to happen, and he had been in negotiations with both clubs to terminate the contracts early so he could find himself a new team as a free agent.
Surprisingly, that did not go through and Bakayoko remains in the Milan squad, picking up a salary worth €2.5m per season to sit in the stands.
There is still some hope he can be convinced to leave before the markets in Greece, Russia and Turkey close.
He had a series of loan spells since Chelsea bought him from AS Monaco for €40m in 2017, but didn’t make enough of an impact at Milan, Monaco and Napoli to earn a permanent transfer.
Article about Bakayoko with a pic of Origi? 🙂
I don’t blame him. I’m always critical of good players who would rather sit on some bench and collect bigger paychecks than play somewhere else for less, but this poor guy can’t kick a ball to save his life now.
This is really the best case scenario for him, to sit aside and collect whatever money he can while he still can.