AC Milan are “very close” to signing Chelsea centre-back Fikayo Tomori, despite their summer interest in Celtic’s Kristoffer Ajer.
Sky Sports has reported that the San Siro outfit is close to agreeing on a loan deal with a £25million option to buy clause inserted. Sky also state that Milan have been tracking Tomori alongside principle target Mohamed Simaken of Strasbourg.
This comes after the Rossoneri had been tracking Ajer over the summing. Manager Stefano Pioli admitted that they were interested before they faced each other in the Europa League back in October (Glasgow Times).
And after failing to sign a centre-back during the summer window, it looked like a bid for Ajer could’ve been forthcoming in January. Especially after reports from Italy had suggested that Ajer was part of a three-defender choice for Milan ahead of the winter window (MilanNews24).
But it looks as though they’ve gone for Chelsea’s Tomori instead. As quoted by Sky, Maldini said: “It’s very close, we’re in between confirming his signing and not signing him at all, it could all break down with just one detail.
“We saw in him the quality to throw him into the mix with our current defenders, so that’s why we want him.”
AC Milan don’t look like coming for Celtic’s Kris Ajer this month
Looking through the Milan ranks now, they have more than enough options as the back. When Tomori signs, and it looks inevitable now, they’ll have five options in total to play at the back.
Indeed, the likes of Alessio Romagnoli, Simon Kjaer, Mateo Gabbia, and Mateo Musacchio are all available for them. There’ll be no need to go for Ajer, and the fact an option-to-buy could be inserted into the Tomori deal suggests they’ve made their long-term decision.
Of course, Celtic shouldn’t expect this boost to go beyond the end of the season. Ajer’s contract is up in the summer of 2022. In order for Celtic to get any sort of decent return on him, he has to be sold this summer.
We can forget the idea that Celtic will hold onto Kris until his deal runs out. The player won’t want that and the club will still be hopeful it can get a promising fee for him. However, thankfully it won’t be happening this month.
Ajer has been one of if not the standout player for Celtic over the last two months or so. He and David Turnbull have produced consistently high performance-levels over the course of November and December. Losing him at any point in January, regardless of the fee, would only be a big blow for the rest of the season.
You can’t imagine it’s something Neil Lennon would be too keen on either.
In other news, Gerrard has reportedly made a move for a Celtic-linked defensive target.
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