Milan are working to bring defender Matteo Gabbia back from his Villarreal loan in January to plug the gaps, claim reports in Italy and Spain.
The Rossoneri are dealing with an injury crisis and it has hit the back line particularly hard.
Pierre Kalulu, Simon Kjaer, Mattia Caldara, Malick Thiaw and Marco Pellegrino are all out of action.
The ideal for Stefano Pioli would be to get former Spezia defender Jakub Kiwior on loan from Arsenal, but the Premier League side are refusing to consider that option.
It is suggested by both sources in Italy and Spain that the cheapest alternative is recalling Gabbia early from his season-long loan with Villarreal.
The 24-year-old centre-back joined Villarreal in July 2023 and is a product of the Rossoneri youth academy.
So far this season, he has made 11 appearances for Villarreal between the Europa League and LaLiga.
His previous loan experience had been in Serie C with Lucchese in the 2018-19 season.