AC Milan are one of the teams to look out for when it comes to the future of Lecce star Tiago Gabriel, Gianluca Di Marzio reports.
Di Marzio has spoken this morning on Caffè Di Marzio (via MilanVibes), a podcast in collaboration between TuttoMercatoWeb.com and Gianlucadimarzio.com. He gave an update on the future of Gabriel, the central defender who has been very impressive in Serie A so far.
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“There are already top clubs interested in Tiago Gabriel – not just in Italy – willing to negotiate with Lecce to secure the Portuguese defender. In Italy, one of the teams most interested are Milan, although no real negotiations have yet begun,” he said.
“The Tiago Gabriel deal in Lecce cost one million euros plus bonuses, a contract that was certainly rather low for a defender who arrived from the Portuguese league, from Estrela Amadora, a club where Lecce have gone shopping several times in recent years, with great satisfaction, from Gaspar to Tiago Gabriel to Danilo Vega.
“Last night I was watching Lecce-Fiorentina and I had confirmation once again of how strong Tiago Gabriel is. Tiago Gabriel will certainly be one of the protagonists of the next transfer market and today he is one of the architects of a pursuit of safety that Di Francesco and Corvino’s Lecce will try to achieve until the last second.”
Milan’s pursuit of a new central defender is no secret, with the likes of Mario Gila and Kim Min-jae among those regularly linked by the media. If Allegri were to continue with a 3-5-2 formation, he might ask for a couple of signings to ensure numerical security.
At times in 2025-26, the coach has been one injury or suspension away from having to play the very inexperienced David Odogu, acquired from Wolfsburg in the summer. Given he may also leave on loan, Gabriel could be a target as well as a more established name.
Hes a good player him and Gila would complete the 3 man CBs
If not Ousmane Diomande would be good too
If both of them are to come, then we must rid of one central defender at least. We have De Winter, Pavlovic, Gabbia and Tomori. First two are not going anywhere, the third is italian and not bad at all, so only if Tomori leaves, we can make room for 5 CBs, given there is not only Serie A and italian cup, also the UCL.
Im pretty sure they will keep all of De Winter, Pavlovic, Gabbia and Tomori plus add one more quality defender, like Gila or Thiago Gabriel.
5 CBs in a 3 man back line with the league, min 8 CL games (more if we advance to playoffs) the Italian cup AND a summer WC is super risky. There is always a ton of injuries the season after a WC or EC in the summer due to fatigue, and less time to build back up in the summer, so you want 6 CBs the coming season. 5 that rotate regularly and a stand-in when suspensions/injuries hit, like Odogu.