Yes, he’s still a Chelsea player
Sometimes, footballers fade in obscurity and you completely forget they exist. Their presence on the pitch is so benign they manage to go completely unnoticed, even while they’re contracted to one of England’s biggest clubs. Tiemoué Bakayoko is one of those players.
After failing to make an impact, well, a positive impact at Chelsea, he was loaned out to AC Milan for the 18-19 season and then back to Monaco, who had sold him to Chelsea in 2017.
And he could be heading back to Milan this summer, with the clubs currently in talks over another move.
The player has made it clear he is keen to return to San Siro, where he enjoyed his best form of the past three years, telling Tuttomercatoweb, “Everyone knows that Milan is in my heart and I have good memories.”
Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano reports that Milan will offer to take Bakayoko on an initial €3m loan, with an option to buy for €35m after one season. However Chelsea would prefer to offload the midfielder permanently this summer for a fee of £20m.
AC Milan have started talks with Chelsea to sign Tiemoué Bakayoko. €3M loan + €35M buy option ready to be offered as first bid. The player wants to come back. 🔴⚫️ @DiMarzio @SkySport #CFC #Milan #transfers
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 11, 2020
Monaco had the chance to sign him for £37m this year, but backed out of the deal after Ligue 1 was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chelsea could do with some cash coming in this summer after already shelling out big fees for Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, and Bayer Leverkusen forward Kai Havertz pushing for a move to the London club as well.
And that’s without even thinking about the investment that needs to be made into Chelsea’s defence.
Frank Lampard will be hoping the club can convince Milan to complete a permanent transfer for Bakayoko this summer, as negotiations continue.
