AC Milan wanted to try and get a deal done for Alessandro Buongiorno, but Torino have put up a wall and it looks as though their plans will have to change accordingly.
As our colleagues at SempreMilan.it report, Milan are big admirers of Buongiorno and have been in talks over him for several weeks, with the first verbal offer being made in recent days.
That bid was €15-18m in cash (dependent on things like add-ons) plus Lorenzo Colombo on a permanent deal and Jan-Carlo Simic on loan as two counterparts.
However, Torino’s president Urbano Cairo declared that Buongiorno is not for sale this month and it seems that this is no bluff, rather he is standing very firm.
It is a declaration that inevitably had repercussions, given that the management were working on an agreement with the player who could have signed a contract worth €2m net per season until 2028.
Buongiorno will eave the door open to a transfer in the Rossoneri for the summer when the club will also likely see some players leave, but for now the strategy has to change.
The January need
The urgency of bolstering the centre-back department remains, as Stefano Pioli confirmed during his press conference before the win against Roma on Sunday night.
With the idea of signing Buongiorno gone, the alternative that remains in the minds of Geoffrey Moncada and Antonio D’Ottavio is the name of Tanguy Nianzou, who is expected to leave Sevilla.
The Frenchman is not getting much playing time with the Andalusian club: he has played 319 minutes, also due to various physical problems that kept him away from the field for around 16 games.
These fitness problems are likely to worry the Milan directors too, because they don’t need the treatment room getting more full given that Pierre Kalulu, Fikayo Tomori and Malick Thiaw are all out.
Three options from England are being evaluated: Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea and Lloyd Kelly of Bournemouth. The former isn’t getting many minutes while the latter is on an expiring deal.
Sky’s Manuele Baiocchini threw another name back into the hat today, as he stated (via MilanNews): “Milan could sign a player on loan with an option to buy which, if it were not too high, means they would buy him if he did well otherwise he would be returned to his parent club at end of the season. An example could be Kiwior from Arsenal, who is very popular.”
The summer route
Regarding Lloyd Kelly, there are whispers of an agreement already reached between the Milan management and his entourage ahead of the summer over a contract until 2028 with a salary of €2.8m net per season, but we do not have any confirmation from either side on that.
In addition to Kelly, Milan could of course try again for Buongiorno at the end of the season when it may be considered a more appropriate time for the Italy international to make the leap to a top club.
Given that talks have been held with his agent Beppe Riso already – with whom relations are excellent – plus the offer of cash plus Colombo and Simic was put forward, in the summer some adjustments could mean an agreement is reached.
There is, of course, another possibility: Milan could also decide to directly postpone their investment on a central defender until the summer, this waiting for Kalulu, Tomori and Thiaw while leaning on resources like Matteo Gabbia and Simic.