ALVISE CAGNAZZO: Paolo Maldini is keen to add Ruben Loftus-Cheek to the ex-Chelsea crowd at AC Milan

AC Milan have chosen Ruben Loftus-Cheek to fill the void left in the middle of the field by Franck Kessie’s departure last summer.

By the end of June, perhaps even earlier, Loftus-Cheek will become one of the three starting midfielders in Stefano Pioli’s side and, together with Sandro Tonali, will form a technical and very physical tandem in the middle of pitch. 

After qualifying for the Champions League, Milan have begun to compile their squad for next season with the contract renewals of Mike Maignan and Rafael Leao and the signing of the Japan international Daichi Kamada.

The first important signing from the Premier League will be Loftus-Cheek, who for many years has attracted the attention of Juventus and Lazio but is now very close to accepting Paolo Maldini’s proposals.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport Maldini has already begun to define the economic contours of the operation with Chelsea, a club that will eventually put between ten and 15 players on the market. 

AC Milan are looking to bring in Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek this summer

Paolo Maldini is keen on the 27-year-old and is willing to stake his reputation on the move

Loftus-Cheek’s contract expires in June 2024 but Chelsea want to sell him this summer, however, they will not be able to ask for 100% of the £17 million valuation. 

AC Milan are working to find an agreement around £13m but, according to Tuttosport, there are no risks regarding the failure of the operation which will be defined in a few weeks.

Maldini puts his reputation on the line

Maldini is looking to bring in players as quickly as possible this summer, so that Stefano Pioli has time to improve them tactically and athletically as they eye a Scudetto next season.

He does not want to repeat the mistakes made in the previous market and has chosen to insist on high quality players who have already played a leading role within their own teams.

Loftus-Cheek is Maldini’s pick and if he fails it could compromise the credibility of the legendary defender as a talent scout. When Maldini chooses goalkeepers and defenders he is never wrong, but when he decides to invest in midfield and attack he is often mistaken. 

He is due credit for Milan’s Scudetto win in 2022 but in the last 12 months he has made too many errors in evaluating his players.

Divock Origi (left) and Charles De Ketelaere (right) have both struggled at AC Milan this year

After the mistakes made in choosing Divock Origi and Charles De Ketelaere, Maldini moved his radar to young players who are very reliable physically as well as having a high technical level with at least 100 appearances in previous teams. 

Pioli asked Maldini for ready players and not future talents like Yacine Adli, who has rarely played this season. The midfield is one of the most delicate areas of the team and Ismael Bennacer’s injuries, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Aster Vranckx’s acclimatization problems have made the situation critical forcing Tonali and Rade Krunic to experience a very tiring season.

Pioli has already given his approval to Loftus Cheek’s arrival but some doubts remain about his physical fitness, one of the main reasons why Chelsea want to sell him without renewing his contract. 

The 27-year-old hardly ever played in the 2019/2020 season due to a ruptured achilles tendon and in the last two league campaigns he started 29 games on the bench. 

He is a quality second choice but could hardly be considered a top player by Premier League standards. Maldini knows the player very well and is ready to bet on him in the hope of not failing yet another purchase on the market.

Loftus-Cheek could be Franck Kessie’s heir 

6ft 3in for 90 kg: this is the first fundamental fact that put the English midfielder on Milan’s radar. 

Losing Kessie was far more traumatic than Milan fans might have expected because of his role in balancing the midfield.

Krunic and Tomasso Pobega have shown that they are not goof enough to improve the quality of the midfield and the decision to bring Daichi Kamada and Loftus-Cheek to Milan reveals the will to improve a sector that has betrayed Paolo Maldini’s expectations in recent months.

Franck Kessie has been missed since swapping the San Siro for the Nou Camp last summer

Loftus-Cheek is valued for his physicality, and could be a good replacement for the 26-year-old

Loftus-Cheek earns around £3.4m and these requests do not scare Maldini also because Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio, which had valued him in his year as Blues coach, cannot afford to pay him that salary due to the salary cup that for years regulates and contains Lazio market. 

Maldini has already defined the renewals until 2028 of the team’s main players and Loftus – Cheek will also have a five-year contract.

According to Tuttosport, next week Paolo Maldini will speak with Real Madrid to try to conclude the purchase of Brahim Diaz. Immediately afterwards, he willfly to London to take care of filing the details of the transfer of Loftus-Cheek. 

The England international who this year has played 25 games in the Premier League and seven in the Champions League, will improve the team’s technical and tactical aspect. 

Italian football is preparing to welcome yet another midfielder from the Premier League and the happy experience with Tomori seems to have created an excellent feeling between Chelsea and Milan on the transfer market.

He would join a strong ex-Chelsea contingent

Fikayo Tomori was the first big signing who reaffirmed the excellent relationship of esteem between Chelsea and AC Milan and which will very soon be consolidated by the Loftus-Cheek negotiation. 

After dealing with the sales of Andriy Shevchenko, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Tomori and Olivier Giroud in the past, the two teams now seem to have found an excellent dialogue and Milan is bringing players of great technical impact to Serie A in the team’s strengthening plan without spending astronomical sums on the market.

The likes of Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud have already swapped Chelsea for Milan

Tiemoue Bakayoko is also at Milan on loan from Chelsea, but has struggled to adjust at the club

Too many variables loom over the summer market and Milan’s fortune is to have established an excellent commercial relationship with Chelsea, which always has many redundant players. 

Also with regard to Giroud there were many unknowns related to his physical conditions and for this reason, at the moment, there are no particular obstacles to completing the negotiation for Loftus-Cheek who, just like the French forward, has experienced many unfortunate periods. 

Maldini’s hope is that Chelsea have once again made a mistake in evaluating the player, repeating the excellent transfer market operations that essentially gave Milan two irremovable starters such as Tomori and Giroud.