Alessio Romagnoli is facing an uncertain future at Milan after being benched and replaced by Fikayo Tomori in Sunday’s clash with Roma. The Chelsea youngster fared well, further fueling the management’s intentions of activating the €28M option to permanently acquire him in the summer, Gazzetta dello Sport reports.
The scenario would cast some doubts on the permanence of the captain, who has been under scrutiny lately because of some subpar performances. It culminated into the coach’s decision to spare him against his old team, from which he was signed for €25M six years ago.
Romagnoli is expected to return to the starting XI soon amid some rotation in the back due to the upcoming midweek round. However, he and Milan will be at a crossroad this summer as is contract expires in 15 months and talks to extend it have not been easy so far.
The outlet adds that the 26-year-old is making €3.5M and is looking for a significant pay bump, up to around €6M. Furthermore, the fact that he too is represented by Mino Raiola, who is already driving a hard bargain for his other client Gianluigi Donnarumma, further complicates the matter.
Transfer market expert Carlo Laudisa informed that the Rossoneri will consider offers for Romagnoli if they do buy out Tomori as expected and that the price tag could be low considering his contractual situation. A €20M bid or a swap deal could suffice for him to leave in the next window, as the club would prefer such option to have him play out the final year of his deal, like it is happening with Donnarumma and Hakan Calhanoglu.