Milan are reportedly lining up a second bid for Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot this week.
Milan Live understands that Milan have had a busy week in the transfer market, specifically in the full-back department. It started with the club receiving an unnamed offer for Andrea Conti. The 26-year-old has been sidelined for the start of the 2020-21 season and has seemingly taken a backseat in manager Stefano Pioli’s plans.
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Milan look willing to sell but with defensive numbers already thin, Pioli wants to be able to bring in cover before he sells Conti, or anyone for that matter.
Dalot looks the perfect fit – 21-years-old, out of contention in Manchester and ready to take on a new challenge, and hopefully, fulfill the potential that José Mourinho saw in him back in 2018.
It was the now Spurs boss who brought him to Old Trafford after a strong season with a former club of his, Porto. But after the change of management at Manchester United and the addition of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Dalot has become an outcast.
United are willing to sell, but Milan have already had an offer rejected – they allegedly placed a loan offer on the table, with the option to buy at the end of the season.
United rejected this bid but the above reports insist that they’re still open to selling the Portuguese right-back, and so Milan are now looking at tabling a new deal before the end of the week.
But why Dalot? And why now?
Well, Milan have, as it stands, a somewhat inexperienced defense. With Alessio Romagnoli still injured, it’s left them with a makeshift defense going into the season and although it’s yet to falter them in the new campaign, the tougher challenges are yet to come.
In little over two weeks Milan will face cross-town rivals Inter in what will prove to be their biggest test of the season so far.
Pioli’s search for a defensive addition has taken a detour from a central player to a full-back and Dalot has fallen into the cross-hairs, who he hopes will come in for Davide Calabria who’s been starting in that right-back position.
Something to note about Dalot though is that he can also provide cover on the left. Theo Hernandez seemingly has that spot on lock-down for the foreseeable future but again, with defensive numbers light, a versatile player like Dalot would fix more than one problem in this Milan defense.
Pioli’s side have enough attacking firepower. They’ve began their Serie A campaign with two wins and two clean sheets but having learnt from last season, Pioli knows his small side will tire as the season goes on and with Europa League to contend with, squad numbers are still very much needed.
Plenty of names come into the Italian game from the Premier League, or other European leagues and manage to rekindle their careers.
Dalot is one of those players in a sort of limbo state right now; his future at United is seemingly over having played little over an hour of Premier League football last season, and only featuring one time this campaign in the Carabao Cup.
Fans wanted him to blossom into the player we all thought he could but it’s proved to be a big club too far for the youngster. Milan’s style of play will compliment a full-back like Dalot though, who likes to contribute to the attack.
An exciting prospect for Milan fans to keep an eye on, but it likely won’t come cheap, especially with United having so far struggled in the transfer market. But at 21 and with the experience he already has, it could be a keen addition by Stefano Pioli.