Stefano Pioli could transform Tiemoue Bakayoko into a very useful member of the squad next season if he undertakes the challenge, a journalist has proposed.
The Rossoneri are currently understood to be looking for a midfielder on the market to replace Franck Kessie, while Tommaso Pobega and Yacine Adli have returned from their respective loan spells, reducing the potential playing time available for Bakayoko even more.
The Chelsea loanee had a difficult season in 2021-22 during which he did not enjoy the faith of Pioli all that much and fell out of favour in particular in the second half of the season. The likes of Marseille and Galatasaray have been linked with taking over his loan.
The well-known Milan journalist Franco Ordine has written a column for MilanNews during which he proposed the idea that the Rossoneri might already have Franck Kessie’s replacement in the squad if Pioli can recover the form of Bakayoko.
“I keep reading about the craving to dislodge Bakayoko from Milanello. I think differently. And I believe that, by recovering the polish he had in the past during the second half of the season with Gattuso on the bench, he could become the ideal replacement for Kessie,” he began.
“Paired with Frank they made a solid midfield duo. It would not be a titanic undertaking for Pioli who has already recovered players (Florenzi, Rebic, Messias, Giroud) to their optimum performance, considered to be on their way to decline.
“It’s like Perisic at Inter. Do you remember the first judgment of Antonio Conte? Then he had the intellectual honesty to recognise the mistake and now he wanted him at Tottenham. Football is full of these changes and also of these changes in performance from one season to the next.”
