With Lille unlikely to sell Sven Botman in January, Milan are reportedly considering loan deals for Nathan Aké, Eric Bailly or Malang Sarr.
The Serie A giants need a replacement for Simon Kjaer who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Lille’s Sven Botman is the Diavoli’s No.1 target, but the club’s chief Ricky Massara admitted that the Ligue 1 giants are unwilling to sell their centre-back in the January transfer window.
“Botman is a very good player, but I don’t think Lille want to deprive themselves of him at the moment. There are many options to be considered,” he told Sky Sport Italia on Sunday.
“There are possibilities to be evaluated, as it’s a very uncertain time for clubs, especially with the stadiums closing back down, so we need to think very carefully,” he added.
According to Sky Sport Italia, the Rossoneri have now set their sights on Aké, Bailly, and Chelsea, who are contracted with Manchester City, United, and Chelsea.
They are all struggling with playing time at their clubs and Milan are considering a loan move for one of them.
‘They all have pros and cons,” said Italian transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio.
“They don’t have perfect characteristics for Milan, but the Rossoneri are making their assessments. Milan haven’t yet taken a final decision as Pierre Kalulu and Matteo Gabbia did well over the last few games.”
Gabbia and Kalulu started against Roma and Venezia last week as Kajer is injured, while Fikayo Tomori and Alessio Romagnoli are believed to have caught COVID.
The Rossoneri conceded once in the last two matches.
Di Marzio: "Milan, difficoltà per Botman. Valutati Bailly, Ake e Sarr" https://t.co/StY6oq6YUm
— MilanNews.it (@MilanNewsit) January 9, 2022
Bailly I’d actually. Underrated. Ake’ is overrated and his poor positioning is masked by having a superior team and goalkeeper behind him. Difficult to judge sarr as he isn’t a regular. A couple of decent performances lately, but wouldn’t call him the most technical of defenders.
Sarr looks promising, but we need the finished article for half a season so, Bailly all day.
I’m from Manchester so know a lot of United fans, and I think every single one of them would be at the airport to make sure Bailly got on the plane. This is going to be unpopular but I’d play Gabbia into form. No Europe and top 4 will do.
Bailly is better than Lindelof. But given how Man Utd play (non existent midfield), even Varane (brilliant tonight) can look shaky.
None of the trio is worth the stress. Milan should focus on integrating Kalulu and Gabbia more as a back up center back.
These lads have proven they can be trusted. So with Kjaer still out of the season, Milan can finish the season well with Tomori, Romagnoli, Kalulu and Gabbia as CB.
These lads has really lived up to be allowed the opportunity for development.
Stange and a couple others from the primavera team can now take up the utility player role Kalulu was at the beginning of the season as a soon as Calabria and Balo Toure returns.
We should learn from our past mistakes and stop development players for their parent clubs. Milan is blessed, lets face it.
Bailey, Ake or Sarr are only lucky to be playing for their respective teams… Nothing else.
I feel sad these days each time Milan a team I’ve supported since 1993 keep making funny buys and letting the good players leave often on free! How would my Milan stay competitive again in world football? Our junior Cousins, Inter are better organized than us.
How I wish the oil magnets in the Middle East and Asia would one day look in the direction of Milan. I’m just tired of seeing all manner of average payers in Milan shirt these days!