After sealing the departure of Lucas Paqueta to Lyon in a €21m deal, Milan’s attention now turns to the centre-back department.
In his latest editorial which takes stock of the Milan market, Vitiello reports how the Rossoneri management have done wonders to sell Paqueta for that amount, before going on to discuss the pursuit of a new central defender.
The primary targets were Nikola Milenkovic of Fiorentina and Wesley Fofana of Saint-Etienne, but for economic reasons both have faded. The Ligue 1 club reached an agreement with Leicester last night over a deal worth about €40m, with Milan’s max offer around €25m.
It is the same thing for Milenkovic: Fiorentina are asking for more than €35m and do not want to lose the Serbia international, so Milan have moved on to other targets.
One of the most concrete leads to Takehiro Tomiyasu of Bologna, a player who can play both centre-back and right-back and has a commanding physical presence.
Not to be discarded yet though are the likes of Schalke’s Matija Nastasic, Kristoffer Ajer of Celtic and German Pezzella of Fiorentina, while in Spain they believe Real Madrid’s Nacho Fernandez is also a target.
