Tiemoue Bakayoko is not having a good season with Milan and poor performances are not the only reason why he’s currently sidelined in the Lombardy capital.
The 27-year-old French midfielder has made 13 Serie A appearances this season for the Rossoneri, but only five of those games were starts and he has not featured since the 2-1 loss to Spezia last month. He has only played the full 90 minutes of a match twice this campaign, and he didn’t impress either time.
As highlighted by Rudy Galetti, one of the main reasons why Milan are not playing Bakayoko is because the conditional obligation to buy clause attached to his loan deal is linked to the number of appearances made.
The Frenchman joined the Rossoneri from the Blues last summer in a €2m loan deal, with the conditional obligation to buy clause set at around €15-20m. The Milanese club have no intention of making his stay permanent, and so it’s unlikely he’ll receive regular playing time now under Stefano Pioli.