Chelsea will reportedly pay a portion of Tiemoue Bakayoko’s wages as he closes in on an initial loan move to AC Milan, potentially worth €40m in total.
The 23-year-old struggled to entirely convince in his first season with the Blues last year as he failed to replicate the form that he displayed at Monaco which earned him the move to Stamford Bridge.
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Coupled with the fact that Maurizio Sarri has now arrived at the club and signed Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic this summer to help implement his preferred style of play, Bakayoko’s days at Chelsea appeared numbered.
As noted by La Gazzetta dello Sport, the midfield ace is in turn set to join Milan on an initial €5m loan deal for the season with an option to buy for an additional €35m next summer while it’s added that he is likely to take the vacant No.14 shirt at the San Siro.
However, it’s also suggested that Chelsea’s expenditure on Bakayoko won’t end just yet as Calciomercato note that they are potentially set to pay €4m of his €6.5m wages for this season, with Milan paying the €2m left over during his loan move.
With that in mind, it has to be said that it’s a sensible move from the Italian giants overall, as Gennaro Gattuso undoubtedly needed midfield reinforcements this summer given the lack of quality and depth at his disposal last season.
Further with Manuel Locatelli leaving the club on Monday with Sassuolo announcing a deal, that leaves the Rossoneri light in that department and so now all eyes will be on whether or not Bakayoko can rediscover his Monaco form and prove himself to be worthy of a permanent move to join Milan at the end of the season.