Unable to make himself a part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad on a regular basis at Manchester United, Diogo Dalot was forced to look elsewhere for (semi-)regular minutes.
The Portuguese defender, who was bought during the José Mourinho era at Old Trafford, was linked with a number of clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain and AS Roma, but it was Milan who secured his services, loaning him for the entire season.
There is no option to buy in the deal, meaning that, as things stand, Dalot will return to the north of England when the 2020-21 campaign comes to an end, but there have been signals the Serie A side could be interested in keeping him beyond that.
However, there is no rush to deal with this, as it’s not something they will be looking to sort out in January.
Gazzetta dello Sport are the ones reporting this on Thursday, explaining those in charge of such matters in Milan will deal with the loans ‘in the spring’, giving themselves enough time to fully assess Dalot and Brahim Díaz, borrowed from Real Madrid.
Their January will be more focused on strengthening the defence, with Schalke 04’s Ozan Kabak top of their list in that department.
Considering Milan currently have four right backs in their ranks in Dalot, Davide Calabria, Andrea Conti and recent arrival from Lyon Pierre Kalulu, there will need to be some great performances or surprise exits for the Italians to commit a large sum of money on the Manchester United man.
Since his arrival at San Siro, the Portugal U21 international has only made two brief Serie A cameos, but has started and finished all of the club’s Europa League fixtures, and will likely be in line to start against Celtic on Thursday night.