AC Milan have reportedly made an enquiry over Mario Hermoso, who is now a free agent after leaving Atletico Madrid this summer.
The Rossoneri have a number of options in defence already with Fikayo Tomori, Pierre Kalulu, Malick Thiaw and Matteo Gabbia all expected to feature heavily in the upcoming campaign.
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However, much will depend on who Paulo Fonseca feels is best suited to his style of play moving forward, and the Milan boss may well decide to venture into the transfer market in order to secure his preferred option as he looks to mould this squad into his own.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Milan have made an enquiry for Hermoso with a view of potentially signing him on a free transfer, although it’s added that the Rossoneri are still working on a deal to sign Strahinja Pavlovic from RB Salzburg, while Hermoso has interest from both Inter and Napoli.
In turn, it could prove to be a complicated pursuit of the Spanish defender, albeit he would be an important signing given his experience at the top level during the course of his career.
The 29-year-old made 174 appearances for Atleti during his time at the club, and as a left-footed centre-half, he could help bring real balance to our backline by playing on that side of the centre-back partnership.
Nevertheless, time will tell if Milan perhaps continue to prioritise Pavlovic, as it could be argued that unless there are exits which would then require additional signings, Fonseca will likely only need one more defender to ensure that we have enough competition and depth in that department to compete on multiple fronts.
As noted above, while Milan certainly do need to raise the level of the squad this summer to be more competitive than last season, it’s absolutely fundamental that any new players we bring in are an excellent fit for the style of play and structure that Fonseca is looking to implement, in order to get the best out of them and to ensure that the Rossoneri perform at the best level possible under our new coach.
If Hermoso ticks the right boxes, and particularly given he’s available on a free, it could be an astute piece of business if we decide to step up our pursuit of him instead.