According to Sky Sport Italia, Milan had reached an agreement with Benoît Badiashile but Chelsea blocked his transfer, while Clement Lenglet had held talks with Stefano Pioli and Geoffrey Moncada.
Milan failed to sign a second centre-back in the January transfer window after bringing Matteo Gabbia back to the club from his loan at Villarreal.
Stefano Pioli has explained that none of the options offered to the Rossoneri suited their needs so they decided against signing a new defender in the winter transfer window.
Sky Sport Italia transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio reveals Milan did talk to several potential reinforcements last month, but failed to strike deals with the players or their clubs.
A well-known Milan target was Lenglet, a French defender under contract with Barcelona, but currently on loan at Aston Villa.
“He was always among the primary options; he had even spoken with Pioli and Moncada and was open to joining the Rossoneri,” Di Marzio told Sky Sport Italia, as quoted by Milannews.
“When Milan had the chance to sign him, he started playing consistently for Aston Villa, so he was not allowed to leave.”
Something similar happened with Chelsea defender Badiashile. “Milan had an agreement with the Chelsea defender, but he also started playing for Chelsea who didn’t want to sell him anymore,” said the Italian transfer expert.
Di Marzio said that Milan opened talks with the two Premier League players after learning Torino would not sell their captain Alessandro Buongiorno.
The Rossoneri remain interested in Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo, whose contract runs out in June, Maxence Lacroix and Merih Demiral.