Over the past few days, the idea that Eric Bailly could head over to Milan has been picking up pace.
The Ivory Coast international is out of favour at Old Trafford, and is currently on duty with his national team at the Africa Cup of Nations, meaning a move away from the Red Devils wouldn’t exactly harm them all that much at this moment in time.
Down Milan’s end, they need a centre-back to come in for the second half of the campaign to replace Simon Kjaer, and while Bailly was just an idea on Tuesday, things appear to have accelerated overnight.
Gazzetta dello Sport, for example, report that ‘a loan with a right to buy is being negotiated’ after Manchester United ‘have opened the doors’ to a temporary deal.
However, the negotiations are still ‘half way there’, as ‘the terms and the cost of the option to buy’ still need to be worked out.
Either way, the defender remains ‘ahead of other candidates in the eyes of Milan’ at this moment in time.
Calciomercato have similar information, explaining that while the interest is there, the Serie A side ‘hasn’t yet decided to go all-in’ for the player.
That being said, ‘new contacts are expected this week’ regarding the loan with an option to buy.
Paolo Maldini and Federico Massara ‘are convinced the he can have the right characteristics to integrate with those who are already there’, but they still need to evaluate the financial side of things.
It’s heading in the right direction, it seems, though.
