Milan had hopes to ship Tiemoué Bakayoko off to Greece on their deadline day yesterday. Olympiacos expressed some interest, but the window closed with the parties ultimately unable to strike a deal.
As per La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Rossoneri reached an agreement to end the loan spell of the midfielder back on September 1st. However, his prospective new side needed to come to terms with Chelsea, which own his card, and that didn’t happen. He has drawn interest from Ligue 1 sides and Valencia throughout the summer, but the talks never gained much traction.
After unfruitful inquiries from Turkey at the beginning of the month, the late attempt by Olympiacos didn’t come to fruition either. Therefore, Milan will continue covering his €2.5M wages and will have to wait until January to find a new home for Bakayoko.
The 28-year-old has been left out of the Champions League list alongside a few newcomers and surplus players. The Rossoneri have a vested interest in him not featuring regularly. Per the original agreement with the Blues, they would have to buy him out for €17M if he played at least 45 minutes in 15 games.
Our Take on Milan and Bakayoko
It’s not a great look to pay somebody not to take the field, but there are worse things in the world. The mistake was bringing him back in the first place. In recent years, he has fared decently in just one season, with Gennaro Gattuso at Napoli. The Rossoneri might eventually pay the price for not replacing Franck Kessié, but they have enough depth. Still, they will desperately hope nothing ever happens to Sandro Tonali and Ismael Bennacer; otherwise, they would be in big trouble.
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