AC Milan could reportedly look to axe Ricardo Rodriguez in order to help them fund a move to try and prise Merih Demiral away from Juventus in January.
The 27-year-old Swiss international has been limited to just four appearances so far this season as summer signing Theo Hernandez has made the left-back spot his own.
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Coupled with Mattia Caldara continuing his recovery from injury and with a lack of quality depth behind Alessio Romagnoli and Matteo Musacchio, coach Stefano Pioli may arguably feel as though he’s a little light in the central positions.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Rossoneri could have a solution in mind which involves offloading Rodriguez amid touted interest from Germany in order to help fund their swoop for Juventus ace Demiral to strengthen their options at centre-half.
The 21-year-old has also struggled for playing time so far this season as he has featured just once for the reigning Serie A champions, and with the likes of Leonardo Bonucci, Matthijs de Ligt and Giorgio Chiellini seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order, it raises doubts over whether or not his situation will change any time soon.
In turn, allowing Rodriguez to leave to move for Demiral could be a sensible bit of business for Milan in the New Year, as they continue to try and drag themselves back into contention for a top-four finish in Serie A this season in the coming weeks.
Pioli’s side currently sit down in 12th place in the table, 11 points adrift of fourth spot. With that in mind, they’ll hope to string some wins together to close that gap, and that could also potentially help them convince possible targets in January to join them if they are within striking distance of securing a place in the Champions League next season.