The hope of the Milan management heading into January was to bring a defender in quickly that everyone agreed was an ideal profile, but it hasn’t gone to plan so far.
Stefano Pioli has been left with Matteo Gabbia and Pierre Kalulu as his centre-back pairing for the first three games of 2022 (barring the 23 minutes that Fikayo Tomori played against Genoa in the cup before going off injured) and while the duo seem to be growing in confidence, it is not enough for a team that wants to aim for the Scudetto to accept such a crisis.
La Gazzetta dello Sport are reporting that the negotiations for Eric Bailly of Manchester United and Abdou Diallo of PSG attract the greatest attention of the Milan management, with signs of an opening from the Red Devils over the loan of the Ivorian and the player having given his approval too.
Leonardo continues to insist that Diallo leave on a permanent deal for €25m which is too much for Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara, hence why everything is proceeding slowly on this front, but they do like the player from a technical point of view and there could be openings.
Then there is Nicolo Casale of Hellas Verona, who Lazio have set their sights on and want to sign in January but are struggling for funds. A young player who has experience in Serie A makes him different from other candidates and has attracted the interest of Maldini and Massara, but Verona do not seem willing to accept a loan formula.
Reflections are underway and a defender will not arrive for the sake of it, with an eye also to the future of Kalulu and Gabbia who must not have their paths blocked.
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