AC
Milan are hoping to complete the signing of Fikayo Tomori from Chelsea in
the next 48 hours in order to hand him his debut on Saturday.
The Italian giants have been locked in talks with Chelsea this week over a
loan move for the centre-back which includes an option to buy at around
£25m.
Milan want to have Tomori at their disposal for their Serie A game against
Atalanta on Saturday, and potentially ready to come straight into the
starting line-up.
The Serie A leaders are in the midst of a defensive crisis as all of their
senior centre-backs are unavailable - Simon Kjaer and Matteo Gabbia are
sidelined and Alessio Romagnoli will be suspended.
That is likely to accelerate AC Milan's move for Tomori, as Sky in Italy
report they are hoping the 23-year-old will be able to fly into Italy by
Thursday night in order for him to undergo a medical on Friday.
"We saw in [Tomori] the quality to throw him into the mix with our current
defenders, so that's why we want him," AC Milan's technical director Paolo
Maldini said on Monday.
Despite cementing his position as a Chelsea starter in the first part of
last season, he fell out of favour this year and has been named in a Premier
League squad just once since late October.
New signing Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma and Antonio
Rudiger are all ahead of him in the pecking order and Chelsea boss Frank
Lampard confirmed he can't guarantee the England international more
game-time at the moment.
"Fikayo is a developing player," Lampard said on Monday. "In the squad we
had four centre-backs last year. I can't play four in one game and you try
and find consistency at different times.
"This year we have five centre-backs. So the predicament is difficult for
the ones not playing regularly and that is why he might go out on loan, for
his development.
"He is a young player. His development has been a huge rise in the last two
or so seasons since I have been working with him. That will continue and we
will find the best path for that."
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