Tiemoue Bakayoko could be back in limbo over his future as Serie A giants are unwilling to meet Chelsea’s asking price for the midfielder, according to Calciomercato.
At this point, both Chelsea and Bakayoko should be desperate to part ways in a permanent deal.
Bear in mind, the 26-year-old has entered the final year of his contract with Chelsea.
This summer transfer window would likely the last opportunity for the London club to recoup a considerable transfer fee for the midfielder.
Obviously, for Bakayoko, a permanent transfer would mean an opportunity to settle after a period as a loanee.
Since joining Chelsea in 2017, the France international has had three loan spells at Milan, AS Monaco, and recently Napoli.
To be fair, both the midfielder and Chelsea shared the blame for the current situation.
Former loan clubs reportedly priced out of options to buy
According to various reports, there were options to buy in each of Bakayoko’s previous loan deals.
In his loan deal with Monaco, for example, there was a €42.5million (£38m) option to sign him permanently — and his former club was unsurprisingly priced out of the deal, according to Goal.
Although, in this particular case, the timing of the coronavirus pandemic certainly did not help.
A similar situation occurred at Napoli who refused to pay the €18m (£15m) fee to trigger the option to buy, as CalcioNapoli24 reported.
Bakayoko’s inconsistent performances also did not do much to convince these clubs, unfortunately.
Chelsea still want to monetise ‘as much as possible’, Calciomercato claims
In a recent meeting between Milan and Marco Branca from the First Agent agency, Bakayoko was one of the players discussed, the Italian outlet claims.
However, the report added that Chelsea still hold on to their €15-20m (£12.8-17.2m) valuation despite Bakayoko’s contract situation.
Milan technical director Paolo Maldini reportedly took note of Bakayoko’s availability. However, the Italian club is still reluctant to meet Chelsea’s reported demand.
Chronicle view
There is plenty of time for Chelsea to find potential buyers in this summer transfer window, but they might want to consider lowering their valuation.
The Blues should have recouped some of the £40m they paid to Monaco for the midfielder four years ago (per Sky Sports) from the loan fees.
The loss of revenues during the pandemic means most clubs just do not have much money to spend on players this summer.
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