AC Milan have officially confirmed that Alexis Saelemaekers has joined AS Roma on a loan deal until the end of the 2024-25 season.
It has been a strange few weeks for Saelemaekers, who has gone from being seemingly set to remain at Milan to now having been loaned to Roma for the season, as confirmed on the official website.
The Belgian winger had a positive season on loan at Bologna in 2023-24 and might have expected to be joining them permanently, yet he returned to Milanello and began working to impress the new head coach Paulo Fonseca.
It looked as if he had done exactly that thanks to some impressive performances in the early preseason games, to the extent that the new boss seemed to confirm that he will stay around.
“Alexis? He is a player I love a lot. I like the quality. I think he is a kind of player every coach loves to have, because he can play in different positions. He is more confident, I think he is a player I would love to keep in the team,” Fonseca said after the Manchester City win.
However, in the end Saelemaekers has followed Tommaso Pobega and Yacine Adli out of the exit door, despite Fonseca’s esteem, because the management were convinced by the idea of using him to sign Tammy Abraham.
Best of luck! So just a dry loan?
Preseason was worth while….
First they want to sell him, then decide to keep him and in the last minute want to get rid of him. I think that brilliant strategy by the management.