Multiple times over the course of the January transfer window was it believed that Tiemoué Bakayoko would be leaving Milan, and potentially even Chelsea.
The midfielder is on loan from Stamford Bridge for the rest of the season, having joined the Serie A side in the summer of 2021, but with Stefano Pioli barely counting on him, there was hope from Italy that he could be offloaded early.
They came very close to doing so, with Adana Demirspor wanting to sign him, only for the deal with the Chelsea man to mysteriously collapse at the last minute.
Therefore, he will remain the rest of the season in Milan, where Pioli gave him his first appearance of the campaign recently, bringing him on for eight minutes in the win over Monza.
The deal this season has cost the Italians ‘a total expense of just under €5m gross’, but he will ‘free up’ a space in the summer, as he ‘will return to Chelsea’.
There was an option to buy that came with the two-year loan, but that only became compulsory had he made 15 appearances of at least 45 minutes, which won’t be the case.
That money ‘will not come out’ of the Rossoneri coffers, and they are looking forward to the fact his salary leaving their wage bill will allow them to make ‘substantial’ savings.
As for Chelsea in all this, they will have to once again deal with Bakayoko and find him a new permanent club; something they have been unable to do for the past four years.
