Chelsea are likely to be in the market for a new winger at the end of this season, with them being long-term admirers of one name in particular.

The Blues have been keen on signing Rafael Leao for a number of seasons now, with him being mentioned as a key target for the new owners despite interest already existing.

The current wingers at Stamford Bridge have not been setting the world alight. Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke have all come in for criticism this season.

Chelsea chiefs are not impressed by Sancho in particular, and it has been claimed they are still looking to sign a new left-winger despite the England international joining permanently this summer.

AC Milan open to selling Rafael Leao amid Chelsea transfer interest

Club captain Reece James is a notable fan of the Portugal international. James mentioned Leao as one of his toughest opponents after lining up against him in the Champions League.

Despite admiration, Chelsea didn’t want to pay Leao’s release clause back in 2022, however Milan’s stance on a deal seems to have softened.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the Serie A side are not convinced Leao has actually improved in the past few years.

The report goes on to say that they could be willing to accept a fee as low as £66m for the winger, less than half his release clause.

Graham Potter wanted to sign Leao when he was in charge of the club, and even though names such as Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens have been mentioned as targets recently the desire to sign the 25-year-old has remained.

Joao Felix holds the key to Rafael Leao deal

Chelsea have held a strong working relationship with Milan, who have a number of former Blues on their books.

Their most recent addition from Stamford Bridge was Joao Felix, who joined on loan in January. Milan are keen on permanently signing Felix at the end of this season.

It has been mentioned that the Serie A side may struggle to meet the financial demands Chelsea will have for the Portuguese star to leave permanently.

Milan could offer a swap Chelsea, and with Leao’s admiration at Stamford Bridge and his current club’s lack of faith in him could present a perfect opportunity for the Blues to bring in a long-term target at last.

AC Milan know that they need to win tonight against Feyenoord to have a chance of progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League, meaning the pressure is on.

The Rossoneri were simply not at the races in Rotterdam and failed to break down their resilient hosts. The only goal of the game came in the opening three minutes through Igor Paixao and it means that Milan will need to come from behind to progress for the first time since 2007.

There are a number of absences to deal with as Alessandro Florenzi, Emerson Royal and Ruben Loftus-Cheek remain injured, while Luka Jovic, Alex Jimenez, Warren Bondo and Riccardo Sottil are not in the UEFA squad list.

Today’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport predicts a 4-2-3-1 system from Sergio Conceicao with a back four of Kyle Walker, Fikayo Tomori, Strahinja Pavlovic and Theo Hernandez in front of Mike Maignan.

Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders are down as the double pivot, with Joao Felix operating ahead of them in the attacking midfielder role.

Yunus Musah is down as the right winger and Rafael Leao on the opposite flank supporting the striker Santiago Gimenez. It could well be a slightly different system in and out of possession, though.

Predicted Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Walker, Tomori, Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Musah, Joao Felix, Leao; Gimenez.

Predicted Feyenoord XI (4-3-3): Wellenreuther; Read, Beelen, Hancko, Smal; Moder, Milambo, Bueno; Moussa, Carranza, Paixao.

AC Milan have been approached by Galatasaray regarding the signing of Emerson Royal, according to what Fabrizio Romano is reporting.

Emerson arrived at Milan from Spurs just a few months ago and he slotted straight in as the new starting right-back, overtaking the club captain Davide Calabria in the pecking order quickly.

However, the Brazilian does not seem to have fixed the problem for good because he continues to be the subject of heavy criticism due to low overall performance levels, which has seen Milan active in the market.

There are a lot of different stories circulating at the moment with regards to what January business Milan might do but it seems like Kyle Walker is on the way in from Manchester City, who would obviously compete for the spot.

According to the latest from Fabrizio Romano, Galatasaray have now ‘approached AC Milan over Emerson Royal’ as a possible option for the right side of their defence. Initial contact ‘has been made’, while he mentioned that Walker will be arriving as a new right-back.

Milan are pushing ahead with the deal and news is expected in the coming days, especially given that Walker has been left out of the squad entirely for City’s last two games. In the meantime, it remains to be seen what the stance on Emerson is.

‘The club of dreams’ – Kjaer expresses love for Milan after officially announcing retirement

Simon Kjaer has made the decision to hang up his boots at the age of 35, and declared it a dream ending to have played his last game for AC Milan.

Kjaer ended up playing over 600 games in an illustrious career which saw him turn out for Palermo, Roma, Atalanta, Milan, Wolfsburg, Lille and Sevilla. He made 132 appearances for the Danish national team too, captaining them in major tournaments.

After weeks of speculation about whether or not he would pen a new deal, the agent of Kjaer – Mikkel Beck – confirmed before the end of last season that the defender would leave Milan at the end of the season once his contract expired.

He gave an emotional speech on the field at San Siro to bid farewell, and then it was a case of where he might go next with various options mentioned, such as a possible return to his home land of Denmark.

The announcement has now arrived that Kjaer has decided to officially retire from football having been without a club since leaving Milan in the summer, and he gave an interview to TV2 Sport in Denmark to confirm it.

“It’s not a decision I made after the summer, I had been thinking about it since before the European Championship. In the autumn of 2023, I can see that my time at Milan could be coming to an end and I asked myself what I was going to do then,” he said (via BeSoccer).

“From here there were many components that influenced the future. The children, the family, the national team and Milan, the club of dreams. There were many things that meant that after the European Championship it ended like this.

“I waited for something to arrive, but I had to decide first for my family and then for the sporting aspect. I don’t regret anything. I don’t miss anything in this sense.

“I had the end of my time at Milan in mind. I knew very well that it was going to be very complicated to find something else and the process, in my mind, could not have had a better outcome. I had my farewell at the San Siro. There, I knew it was my end.

“I have had no need to inform anyone but myself. Looking back, easily, I could have made a much more mediatic farewell and signed for another big club after Milan, but I have no need. That’s why we are also sitting here in January: because, for me, it was not important to have a big farewell.”

AC Milan are reportedly looking to make space in their squad for Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford by offloading a forward. The Red Devils are keen to find a new club for Rashford in the January transfer window after he fell out of favour with Ruben Amorim.

Rashford, who is open to a fresh challenge, has been exploring potential exit strategies this month. Milan appears to be the most likely destination after the 27-year-old dismissed the idea of relocating to Saudi Arabia or Turkey at this point in his career.

However, financial constraints have complicated the move, as Rashford earns £325,000 per week at United until June 2028. Despite this, Milan are eager to secure him on an initial loan deal until the end of the season, but are reluctant to cover even half of his wages, given that their highest earner, Alvaro Morata, only receives £150,000.

Nonetheless, Milan are continuing negotiations with United and are progressing with other January window activities that could facilitate his arrival.

Reports in Italy claim that Milan forward Noah Okafor is set to sign for RB Leipzig on an initial loan deal that could become permanent for around €25million (£21m) in the summer.

The Swiss forward, who joined the Serie A side from RB Salzburg for €15.5m (£13m) in the summer of 2023, is considered surplus to requirements.

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Noah Okafor

Noah Okafor is closing in on a move for RB Leipzig

Okafor’s Bundesliga switch will therefore open up space for Rashford to break into Sergio Conceicao’ side – as well as free funds to ensure Milan can afford the versatile forward’s wages.

The England forward’s brother and agent, Dane, has been in Italy hashing out the deal, while United seem willing to let Rashford go, with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe intimating every squad member has their price.

Rashford himself hinted at a change of scenery in December: “For me, personally, I think I’m ready for a new challenge and the next steps. When I leave it’s going to be ‘no hard feelings’. You’re not going to have any negative comments from me about Manchester United. That’s me as a person.

Marcus Rashford

Marcus Rashford’s agent has travelled to Italy for talks

“If I know that a situation is already bad I’m not going to make it worse. I’ve seen how other players have left in the past and I don’t want to be that person. When I leave I’ll make a statement and it will be from me.”

Rashford has been sidelined since United’s Europa League clash on December 12, but with seven goals and three assists this season, he may well find his fresh start away from Old Trafford when the transfer window shuts on February 3.

It is rare for Geoffrey Moncada to communicate much about ongoing things at AC Milan, but today, it has come to light that he made attempts for two stars before they moved to Real Madrid.

The mercato is often difficult in many ways, whether due to planning, finances, registration or a mix of all three. Then comes the other big difficulty – everyone else, and this is often the case with younger players.

In recent years, the value of Under-21 players has soared with clubs more willing to invest in potential now than they may have been in years gone, and Real Madrid have been prolific with this, often landing the most-hyped young talents on the planet.

Regardless of interest from elsewhere, Los Blancos have normally always got the better of others if they hold the same interest in a player as another club, and Moncada revealed that Milan have been a victim of this to Harvard Business School, as Milan News relays.

On his role as the Technical Director…

“The technical director is the link between the coach, the players and the rest of the sporting side on the one hand, and the commercial side on the other. I answer to Giorgio [Furlani] and talk to him every day, several times a day.

“I try to share as much information as possible. How are the players? What do we need for the future? Which contracts do we need to change? What can we improve in the medical department or the youth sector?

“We have a team of ten scouts working with us: five are in Italy and five abroad, and we have data scientists at Casa Milan who help us find players with

“He asks us questions, gives us ideas and helps us find good players with data from Zelus [player data analysis company] but the final decision on a player is never based on numbers alone.”

On the ideal profiles for Milan and the Reijnders example…

“We are taking calculated risks with young players rather than buying big names with high salaries. You may not have immediate success this way, but you build for the long term. Reijnders played in the Dutch league and we were the only ones to bet on him. You ask yourself: he’s a great player-why doesn’t anyone want him?

“We managed to get him for a great price. And now he is a starter for us and plays for his national team.”

“We tried to sign [then 17-year-old] Vinicius Jr. and [then 20-year-old] Jude Bellingham, but we couldn’t compete with Real Madrid. We had to accept that. We have brought great players to the club in recent years, and as a former scout I see it as a personal challenge to take underrated players and make them perform at the highest level.”

AC Milan are reportedly closing in on the signing of a Chelsea player for the January transfer window, and there is a belief that it could even be done in very imminent fashion.

Chelsea prepare for Shamrock Rovers after 2-1 win over Brentford

Enzo Maresca will have to keep on rejecting claims that Chelsea are in the Premier League title race for the foreseeable future if they carry on their impressive run of form, with the west Londoners yet to taste a single top flight defeat since their 2-1 loss at Liverpool in October.

Chelsea are also on an unbeaten run of 10 consecutive games in all competitions, winning their last seven in a row, but Maresca remains adamant that his high-flying team are not ready to compete alongside Liverpool and Arsenal for the coveted crown.

“No matter how many games we are going to win, I think we are not ready to compete for the title,” said Maresca on Chelsea’s title chances after their 2-1 win over Brentford.

“One of the reasons why is because I think [other] teams know how to compete for titles.

Jadon-Sancho-Enzo-Maresca-Chelsea-Cucurella

“You can talk about the title and the fans can dream about the title, absolutely. If you ask me, I will tell you what I think. But you can think in a different way. Just because there are things, no matter how many games we are going to win, for me, we are not ready but we are happy that the fans can dream something more.”

Chelsea are highly likely to make it 11 consecutive games unbeaten and eight wins on the trot when they face Irish minnows Shamrock Rovers in the Conference League on Thursday evening, and Maresca’s B team are set to get another run out in Europe.

Chelsea’s next Premier League fixtures

Midfielder Cesare Casadei may well feature for the Blues, as he has often done in the competition this season, but according to reports out of Spain, it could be one of the Italian’s last games before heading out on loan.

AC Milan “close” to signing Cesare Casadei on loan from Chelsea

Indeed, a Spanish media source now claims that Champions League side Milan are “close” to signing Casadei on a temporary deal from Chelsea, and the transfer may even be finalised “in the next few days”.

This is a bold claim, but there have been murmurs of a Casadei exit in the winter for some time.

Milan have been linked with Casadei previously in the build-up to next month’s transfer window, and recent reports have indicated that Monza are also attempting to sign the 21-year-old (La Gazzetta dello Sport).

In any case, wherever he will end up, it looks highly likely that a move back to Serie A is on the cards for Casadei – nearly one and a half years after the former Inter Milan starlet put pen to paper on a £17 million switch to Stamford Bridge from the San Siro.

Maresca knows Casadei well from his time at Leicester, but he’s struggled to work his way into the team on a consistent enough basis, so perhaps a loan move is best for all parties.

Milan set the selling price of Theo Hernandez: Imminent departure?

AC Milan has set a minimum price of 50 million euros to sell Theo Hernández, one of the most outstanding left-backs in European football. This move has sparked the interest of clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid, who could compete for his signing in the upcoming winter transfer market.

Since his arrival at the rossonero team in 2019, the Frenchman has proven to be a key player, combining defensive solidity with impressive offensive ability. In nearly 250 matches with Milan, Hernández has scored 31 goals and provided 41 assists, numbers that highlight his impact on the team’s game. Furthermore, his performance was crucial in establishing himself as a starter in the French national team from 2021 onwards.

Real Madrid and Manchester United Want Theo Hernández

Manchester United’s interest lies in the need to strengthen the left-back position, weakened by Luke Shaw’s recurring injuries. Meanwhile, Real Madrid is considering options due to uncertainties about the future of Ferland Mendy and the performance of Fran García. Hernández, with his experience and proven quality, emerges as an ideal choice for both European giants.

However, meeting AC Milan’s demanded figure will not be straightforward. While Manchester United faces financial constraints, Real Madrid might also be cautious about disbursing a significant amount. The situation tests both clubs’ willingness to secure a player with a contract running until mid-2026.

The outcome of this negotiation will be crucial in determining Theo Hernández’s next destination, a player who continues to attract attention in the elite realm of world football.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El Milan fijó el precio de venta de Theo Hernández: ¿Salida inminente?