Stefano Pioli is reportedly interested in bringing England U21 striker Folarin Balogun to Milan in the summer transfer window in a bid to find a new reliable goalscorer to take the pressure off Olivier Giroud.
Balogun has been on loan with Stade Reims in Ligue 1 from parent club Arsenal this season and he has scored 15 goals from 25 league appearances, just three shy of the league’s top scorer, Kylian Mbappe.
Reports in Gazzetta dello Sport claim that the Rossoneri are interested in signing Balogun, who is currently valued in the region of €20m to €25m when he returns to Arsenal in the summer.
There is, of course, still room for that asking price to increase before the end of the season.
The signing of a new, young striker would alleviate some of the pressure from Giroud, who will turn 37 in September.
It has been no secret this season that the Rossoneri are in need of attacking reinforcements following the injury to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the lack of goalscoring form shown by Divock Origi and Ante Rebic this season.
If the Balogun deal does not come off, then Gazzetta claims that Milan will look to Noah Okafor from Salzburg, Jonathan David from Lille or 19-year-old Dario Osorio from Universidad de Chile.
The England youth international also spent the last six months of the 2021-22 season on loan in the Championship with Middlesborough, finding the net on three occasions from his 18 outings.
The 21-year-old made two cameo appearances for Arsenal in the Premier League in 2021 and has scored twice for the Gunners in the Europa League, his first senior goal coming in a group stage game against Molde, aged 19.