Milan need Champions League windfall to help with £26m permanent signing of Chelsea's Tomori

Nizaar Kinsella

Milan need Champions League windfall to help with £26m permanent signing of Chelsea's Tomori image

AC Milan are keen to keep Fikayo Tomori on a permanent basis but Champions League qualification would help the Serie A side to afford the €30 million (£26m/$36.5m) option to buy the defender from Chelsea.

The 23-year-old is also keen to remain at San Siro and has had a string of meetings with technical director Paolo Maldini and sporting director Frederic Massara.

The Milan officials have explained that they want to keep Tomori but the fee is expensive. Indeed, ideally, they would ask for a discount from Chelsea, but that is not expected to be granted, leaving Milan hoping for a Champions League spot at the end of the season.

Will Milan qualify for the Champions League?

The Rossoneri are currently in fifth place with just five games left to go in the season, but are level on points with Napoli and Juventus, who are third and fourth respectively.

Atalanta and Lazio are also in the race for the three Champions League spots behind leaders Inter. Milan face Juventus and Atalanta away from home in their final five matches.

Who else will Chelsea sell?

Olivier Giroud is expected to leave on a free transfer this summer after seeing his role reduced during Thomas Tuchel's early reign.

Leicester and West Ham are also interested in Tammy Abraham but the Blues are keen to hold out for a large fee, which has been rumoured to be around £40m ($56m).

Olivier Giroud Chelsea 2020-21

Watford are in talks over signing Ike Ugbo, with Fulham, Monaco and Genk also still in the hunt for the £5m ($7m) rated academy graduate, who is on loan at Cercle Brugge.

PAOK are keen to keep Baba Rahman but would rather see him extend his loan contract than buy him outright.

Napoli could qualify for the Champions League but are unsure over whether to sign Tiemoue Bakayoko, with Chelsea asking for an £18m ($25m) transfer fee.

These deals come amid Chelsea's eagerness to reduce the size of their loan group this summer after FIFA introduced new rules to limit the number of players that are allowed to be sent out in a single season.

Michy Batshuayi, Marco van Ginkel, Matt Miazga, Davide Zappacosta, Ross Barkley, Victor Moses, Danny Drinkwater and Kenedy will all be considered available to be sold.

Who could Chelsea sign?

Chelsea are ready to use the money from player sales to fund a marquee attacking signing, with Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland and Inter's Romelu Lukaku interesting the club.

They have also looked at signing a central defender, with Bayern Munich's Niklas Sule currently a front runner.

Further reading

Nizaar Kinsella

Nizaar Kinsella Photo

Nizaar Kinsella is a Chelsea correspondent with experience covering international football at the World Cup and European Championships. He is a trusted voice within the Chelsea community, attending almost every game and having spent many years doing so. Coverage on Goal.com has seen him invited onto CNN, BBC Radio 5 Live, TalkSport and BeINSports to comment on the turbulent world of the Stamford Bridge club. He previously worked for the Daily Mirror and BBC Radio Manchester, as well as a period working in the UK charity sector.