AC Milan are reportedly keen to strengthen our options at right-back this summer, and Lille’s Tiago Santos has been touted as a possible transfer target.
The Rossoneri have utilised both Davide Calabria and Alessandro Florenzi in the position this season, while as we saw this weekend, Pierre Kalulu is also an option as his versatility allows him to shift across from centre-half.
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However, with Florenzi now 33 years of age and having had his fair share of injury setbacks, coupled with Calabria’s inability to entirely convince as he’s now 27 and entering what should be the peak years of his career, a new option is surely needed in that position particularly if Milan want to compete on multiple fronts and for major honours.
According to Calciomercato’s Daniele Longo, agent Jorge Mendes is not only pushing Sergio Conceicao towards Milan to become Stefano Pioli’s successor this summer, but Santos is also named as being a potential solution for us at right-back.
The 21-year-old has been capped at U21s level for Portugal, and after initially coming through the youth ranks at Sporting, he joined Lille from Estoril Praia last summer.
The talented youngster has since gone on to make 42 appearances this season, scoring three goals and providing two assists to go with his defensive work, while he acquired important European experience during Lille’s Europa Conference League campaign too.
Also capable of playing as a right wing-back, Santos could add much-needed energy and quality down our right flank to freshen things up, and particularly if it’s a signing that suits Conceicao’s style and structure – assuming that he is Milan’s top candidate and is appointed – it could prove to be a crucial addition to the squad.
That said, there could be multiple important arrivals this summer as we potentially open a new cycle, and time will tell if Santos is one of them, or if there is a preferred target that could take his place in the coming months.
