AC Milan are looking at a number of options to cover for Simon Kjaer’s absence and two of them are from Chelsea, according to a report.
TMW‘s Enzo Bucchioni writes that – given the good relations with Chelsea – directors Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara asked the Blues for news about Antonio Rudiger but above all about Andreas Christensen, both of whom are on contract which are set to expire at the end of the season. They are not easy pursuits because the London club would like to renew both, but have not done so yet.
It would be easier to sign another Chelsea defender in Malang Sarr whom they would gladly let leave on loan, but he is not entirely convincing from a technical point of view. The real target is Sven Botman of Lille but it will be difficult because Elliott Management are unlikely to sanction a big expense in January.
After elimination from the Champions League though, it is impossible not to bet decisively on the Scudetto and a high-level defender is certainly needed. Nikola Milenkovic is also a target but again Fiorentina won’t let him go midway through a season where they are aiming for the Europa League.
READ MORE: Milan to lean on Ibrahimovic again vs. Udinese – he wants to join Messi and Ronaldo
Caldara is our most likely (although underwhelming) option. We now will only play one per week – so just like we won’t buy another striker, we at best will only bring back Caldara as a cheap back up option. Botman, Christensen, Rudiger, Milenkovic – all would be nice but hard to believe their clubs would sell now in January. Lille just qualified for the knock-out stages in CL so doubt they sell; Chelsea are in midst of CL and Premiere League title race and don’t need the $$ so they will not sell and even Fiorentina is in the race for a European spot. So the chances of any of these clubs selling in January is not realistic. We will go the “cheaper” route, bring back Caldara for depth – rely on Tomori/Romagnoli as the starters and Gabbia/Caldara as backups – and when Calabria is healthy – we can move Kalulu inside as well. Don’t get your hopes up fellas – dosn’t look like we are spending anything in January.