AC Milan may well play the waiting game in order to land one of their two preferred centre-back targets in the summer, according to a report.
It is no secret now that Milan are in the market for a central defender to cover Simon Kjaer during his absence given he will be out until the end of the season after undergoing surgery on a knee ligament injury, but there is still an element of mystery as to who it might be.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the two defenders that Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara like most are Sven Botman of Lille and Gleison Bremer of Torino but neither will be arriving in the current transfer window.
Regarding the Dutchman, Lille do not want to sell in January and the reports that he might be available for €20m plus bonuses are well wide of the mark, with his actual asking price above that. Nonetheless, the Milan management are convinced by his ability, his potential and his fit for the project so they will retain an interest for the summer.
Bremer is a similar story as he will not depart in January but is a profile Milan like with a view to June, but they will face competition from Inter plus some Premier League clubs for the Brazilian.
On Eric Bailly, the Rossoneri are keen on having him for at least the next six months and got ‘positive signals’ from initial contacts, but he is at the African Cup of Nations which slows things down and that is why other candidates are also being considered alongside the Ivorian.
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