Josip Ilicic and Gian Piero Gasperini are going through a rough patch in their relationship and the player will consider leaving in the summer. He has a year left on his contract with Atalanta and Milan are monitoring the situation for a possible offer in the summer, transfer market expert Gianluca Di Marzio reported.
Ilicic has had an up-and-down campaign so far, tallying 6 goals and 9 assists in 30 appearances. While he seemed to be back on track between December and early February, he has started in just two of the past 7 matches. In the first game against Real Madrid, he was replaced late after subbing in at half time and called out for poor attitude.
The coach is relying more on Ruslan Malinovskyi and Mario Pasalic lately and stated in a recent interview that they have too many attackers in the roster. Ilicic has been in Bergamo since 2017 and put together a career year in 2019/2020 despite missing the restart due to mental health problems. The divide with the gaffer could drive him away as it happened with Alejandro Gomez in January.
Milan are keeping tabs on him as they might be forced to make some changes to their front-line. Hakan Calhanoglu has yet to extend his expiring contract, while Brahim Diaz is on loan from Real Madrid with no option to buy. Among the rumored targets, Otavio will stay at Porto, while there have been no recent developments on Florian Thauvin. The Rossoneri are prioritizing going after younger players, but they could make a run at the Slovenian international under the right circumstances.