Besiktas have included Youssouf Fofana among their list of targets as they await a potential departure in midfield.
Milan’s mercato is in a bit of a limbo phase as the management hope to secure money from outgoings. MilanVibes report that Besiktas are considering Fofana as a potential replacement should Wilfred Ndidi leave the team.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
Fofana’s fate undecided
Fofana meanwhile left with the rest of the Milan squad for their tour of Australia and Indonesia, under the orders of head coach Ruben Amorim. His position hasn’t been definitively clarified: any evaluations on the market will depend on the offers that arrive and the thoughts of the coach.
Milan have set a valuation for the midfielder of around €25m. This figure represents the basis for potential discussions, following rumour in recent weeks that suggested a range between €20-25m, which is what the Rossoneri paid Monaco two years ago.
Some Premier League and Ligue 1 teams remain interested in Fofana, but there have been no official offers at the moment. The player’s performance in summer training could influence his decisions as Amorim continues to assess the options for his double pivot.
In theory, the 27-year-old’s physicality, ball recovery, ability to protect the defensive line and eye for a through ball are elements that can make him functional to the Portuguese coach’s ideas. However, if Besiktas were to bid farewell to Ndidi, there could be a phone call coming from Istanbul.
Milan has too many midfielders. Rabiot – Modric will start, that is 100% now. 2 more senior players as backup and 2 more youngsters as 2nd backups. So Fofana probably stays, out of Ricci, Jashari and Fofana he is definitely the player you can trust most.
It will be so wrong to sell Fofana with the quality of players we have now, no player(even Modric) has his passing vision and execution in this team, until we have such a player he shouldn’t be sold.
Fofana is a strong running player and can cover a good part of the field defensively, but he is technically an incomplete player. For him, the peak of technique, vision and possibilities is when he receives the ball and successfully passes it to the first player next to him! That’s why Amorim doesn’t count on him.
This can’t be further from the truth.
Fofana shouldn’t be sold. Allegri never played him in his natural position. If given the chance to play in his favoured role he will do much better. Let’s not forget he was a french national team player for a few years and his only 27 approaching his peak. He should remain this season and Amorim to get the best out of him.
What is his natural position? He’s no 6 and he’s useless in either penalty box. Where do you play him …
??? (Modric, Comotto), Rabiot (Fofana, Ardon);
Fofana is better than Ricci, RLC and Musah so
there really SHOULDN’T be any dilemma BUT,
it seems to me that they plan to get rid of this
guy at all cost…
Trying to unlock funds at all cost it seems. I’ve said it before we need to be sensible with incomings and outgoings if squad depth is also to be contended with. Sell the real absolute deadwood and retain depth players such as Fofana. Lets not sell and create new headaches when the incoming players are not good enough to plug holes or those remaining are not contributing much. We are not solving a problem if our bench leaves a lot to be desired…
The midfield combination of Rabiot Modric and Fofana allow us to be undefeated last season for some time, honestly it’s the last thing that should have been left undisturbed
Let him go. Very hard to sell players these days. Even self-presumed superstar Leao is only interested by Turkish clubs. I don’t know where those Turkish clubs got their money, but they sure spend a lot these days.