AC Milan are reportedly now in negotiations with Manchester City over the transfer of midfielder Tijjani Reijnders this summer.
The 26-year-old enjoyed a stellar campaign this past season, scoring 15 goals and providing five assists in 54 appearances across all competitions.
READ MORE: Contact made as Milan could face big decision on future of key figure
In an underwhelming and disappointing year for the Rossoneri, the Dutchman was one of the few positives to come from it, but it looks likely that he will be moving on in the coming weeks.
According to Fabrizio Romano, negotiations are underway between Milan and Man City, as although an initial offer worth around €60m+ was rejected by the Rossoneri, it appears as though that hasn’t put off the Premier League giants in their pursuit of Reijnders.
While it’s a significant fee that will likely be reinvested back into the squad to hopefully give Massimiliano Allegri the opportunity to build a more competitive group for next season, losing Reijnders will certainly hurt us as aside from his goal contributions, his energy, technical quality and tenacity in midfield have all been fundamental characteristics and strengthens in this team.
Take that away and it leaves a glaring void in the side, and so it will be interesting to see how Milan look to fill that hole, should the Dutch international move on as expected.
Given Milan failed to qualify for Europe, it remains to be seen if this will be the only high-profile exit that we see this summer or not, as with other pivotal individuals having just 12 months remaining on their respective contracts, there could be more difficult decisions to make in the coming weeks.
Importantly though, we’ve now got Igli Tare in as sporting director to oversee the process and transfer strategy to hopefully ensure we improve and strengthen regardless of departures, while with Allegri now appointed as our new coach too, the pair can get to work immediately on building a squad that reflects his identity and style of play.
Ideally, we would see Reijnders play a prominent role in that as it’s highly likely that he would be able to play a key part in Allegri’s plans next season and beyond, but with speculation continuing to suggest that he’s on his way out, the focus for Milan will seemingly soon be on who is best placed to replace him.
