Chelsea have been paired with an interest in AC Milan duo Alessio Romagnoli and Mattia Caldara, but the Italian giants reportedly have no desire to consider exits.
Things have started well for Maurizio Sarri at Stamford Bridge, with the Italian tactician seeing his side pick up maximum points after four games while conceding just three goals.
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However, while David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger have been preferred in the heart of his backline thus far, there is an argument that the former Napoli boss could prefer other options to better suit his expansive style of play which involves building out from the back.
According to Calciomercato, that possible search has taken him to the San Siro and to Romagnoli and Caldara in particular, both of whom are very comfortable and composed in possession and can certainly defend too.
Nevertheless, given Romagnoli has just been given the captain’s armband this season and is considered a long-term pillar of Milan’s project, it’s highly unlikely that the Italian international is going anywhere in the foreseeable future.
In addition, Caldara only arrived from Juventus this past summer in a deal which saw Leonardo Bonucci head in the opposite direction, and is considered another key piece in Milan’s path back to success.
Romagnoli and Caldara, 23 and 24 respectively, have the opportunity to build an important partnership in defence for club and country moving forward, and so it would be a huge surprise if Milan allowed that to be broken up.
In turn, Calciomercato report that any offers from Chelsea will be rejected, thus leaving Sarri to look elsewhere and consider alternatives if he wishes to strengthen his defensive options moving forward.
Milan have started the season in promising fashion with a win over Roma last time out to bounce back after disappointment at Napoli, and although Mateo Musacchio has started both games, Caldara will be pushing to break into the team sooner rather than later to start building his partersnhip with Romagnoli.