Repubblica: Why Milan lead Napoli in the race to sign €40m Italy international

One of the objectives for AC Milan this summer is to sign a new central defender who can team up with Fikayo Tomori and fill the hole left by Simon Kjaer, and Alessandro Buongiorno is a concrete target.

As La Repubblica (via MilanNews) writes this morning, the Torino captain Buongiorno was sought by Milan in January when they found themselves practically without the entire department from mid-December until mid-February.

In the end the Rossoneri were satisfied with the return of Matteo Gabbia from his loan at Villarreal but now the story has changed, because the management feel the need to invest in a player who is a definite starter.

Buongiorno ticks that box as one of the best emerging players in Serie A and a player called up by Luciano Spalletti for the European Championship in Germany. The paper talks about a head-to-head between Milan and Napoli for the player.

Milan have an ‘advantage’ by virtue of the contacts that began with Buongiorno’s entourage last January, which then ended in nothing. What causes issue for both clubs is the €40m asking price, so it remains to be seen if Torino president Urbano Cairo will be willing to lower his demands.

Buongiorno recently gave an interview to SportMediaset in which he spoke about what the future holds for him given all the links and the possible desire to take the next step. He suggested a potential preference for the Premier League, but added that he feels good in Italy.