There were two key reasons that AC Milan chose not to sign Tiemoue Bakayoko from Chelsea over the summer, a report claims.
Bakayoko was loaned to the Rossoneri by Chelsea last summer having been frozen out of Maurizio Sarri’s plans, and after a difficult start to life at the club he managed to become one of the first names on the team sheet under head coach Gennaro Gattuso.
Milan had an option to sign him permanently for €35million however they chose not to exercise that, likely due to Gattuso’s resignation as manager and the arrival of three new directors: namely Paolo Maldini, Zvonomir Boban and Ricky Massara.
English outlet The Sun even claimed in August that Bakayoko wanted a return to San Siro, but in the end he moved to Ligue 1 side Monaco on loan, and it has been suggested that Milan ‘regret’ not signing him given their midfield struggles so far this season.
However, according to Calciomercato.com, Milan do not regret turning down the chance to buy Bakayoko outright from Chelsea.
There are two key reasons for this: first of all the €35m fee – which was non-negotiable – is not in line with the policy adopted by Elliott on the market.
Secondly, the club had doubts about the player from the behavioural point of view. He was late for training and, above all, had a quarrel on the bench with Gattuso during a game against Bologna.
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