On July 21st, we relayed news from Italy that AC Milan must be aware of competition from Leicester City for Celtic’s Kristoffer Ajer.
Calciomercato on Friday brings the latest development on the Serie A side’s search for a new centre-back.
Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenković is the main target for the Rossoneri, as their manager Stefano Pioli knows the player first hand from his time with La Viola.
The Serbian would be interested in making a switch to the San Siro, but Fiorentina are not willing to provide any discounts to sanction his sale. They are demanding around €30-35m.
Milan find the price high, and their intention is to lower the fee, perhaps by sending one of their players to Fiorentina as part of the deal.
The situation has also forced Milan chiefs Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara to look at other targets, and Celtic’s Ajer and Strasbourg’s Mohamed Simakan are identified as two ‘alternative’ targets.
It’s claimed Piolo’s side have followed the Norway international and Simakan for a ‘long time’, and despite intense competition from Leicester for Ajer, Milan ‘remain hot’ for the Celtic defender and Simakan.
Calciomercato believe the Foxes’ failure to qualify for the Champions League will give Milan an ‘extra assist’ in the race to sign Ajer. It’s worth noting that Milan also have not made it to Europe’s elite club competition.
Brendan Rodgers’ side, however, can offer a better economic package than Milan.
For now, Ajer is an backup option for Milan, and he is still a ‘hot’ target for the Serie A side.
The centre-back’s former agent admitted in March that Ajer wants to leave Celtic this summer, and it remains to be seen where he will end up next season.
