AC Milan have reportedly identified a priority replacement for Mike Maignan, with Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic touted as a top target.
The French shot-stopper continues to be the subject of intense speculation this week, as he’s been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea, albeit the two clubs have yet to reach an agreement on a transfer.
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With Maignan now in the final 12 months of his contract with the Rossoneri, an exit is likely this summer if Milan’s demands are met to avoid losing him for nothing next summer, and if a departure materialises, we’ll need to move quickly to bring in a replacement who is more than capable of filling that void.
As per Matteo Moretto, Milan sporting director Igli Tare has set his sights on Milinkovic-Savic as a potential solution, and so it remains to be seen if we’re firstly forced into a position of looking for a new No.1 between the posts.
The Serbian international initially joined Torino in 2017, and after a string of loan spells elsewhere, he established himself with our Serie A rivals from 2020 onwards, and has since gone on to make 158 appearances for them.
In turn, the 28-year-old has certainly gained plenty of valuable experience of playing in Italy, and so he may well be a safe pair of hands if he were to arrive as Maignan’s successor.
Other names have been paired with Milan in recent weeks since the talk over Maignan’s future gathered pace and so it’s by no means a certainty that it will be Milinkovic-Savic who is chosen, but Milan will need to narrow down the shortlist if it becomes apparent that an exit is getting closer, and it’s hoped that we bring in a reliable option between the posts to give us a solid defensive foundation to build on.
Despite his injuries and errors over the past four years, Maignan has been a decisive figure in games on a consistent basis, and having filled some pretty big shoes himself when he arrived after Gianluigi Donnarumma departed, Milan are potentially going to face another critical decision on who becomes our next goalkeeper for the foreseeable future.
