£43m star could join Liverpool or Spurs for £7.5m, club eyes replacements

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AC Milan are preparing for life without star midfielder Franck Kessie in case the reported Liverpool and Spurs target moves to the Premier League as early as January, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. 

Paolo Maldini, a living legend at the San Siro, has only enhanced his glittering Rossoneri reputation since returning to the seven-time European champions in a directorial role three years ago. 

Maldini’s transfer market nous and eye for a bargain has helped pick Milan off the canvas and drag the proud old club back to where it belongs. The club finished second in Serie A last season while qualifying for the Champions League after a near decade-long absence. 

But while Maldini deserves huge credit for his role in signing exciting talent such as Fikayo Tomori, Alexis Saelemaekers and Theo Hernandez, when it comes to keeping hold of their best and brightest, Milan have found life more difficult. 

Liverpool and Spurs want to tempt Franck Kessie from Milan

Gianluigi Donnarumma and Hakan Calhanoglu, two of the first names on Stefano Pioli’s team sheet, left on free transfers last summer after Milan refused to meet their wage demands.  

And it seems history may be about to repeat itself with the Italian giants reluctant to hand Ivory Coast international Kessie the £115,000-a-week pay packet he’s demanding. 

Kessie, one of the most influential midfielders in Serie A, is due to become a free agent in summer 2022.

And, amid interest from Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and a Tottenham Hotspur side dancing to Fabio Paratici’s tune, Calciomercato believes Milan could cash in on the former Atalanta starlet for a mere £7.5 million in the January transfer window. 

Kessie, by the way, was valued at more than £40 million a few months ago. 

And Maldini is now drawing up plans should the worst-case scenario come to pass. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Milan will reignite their interest in Brest playmaker Romain Faivre should Kessie leave in the winter. 

There’s also a chance Yacine Adli, who joined Milan for £9 million in the summer before returning to Bordeaux on loan, will see his San Siro switch moved forward five months.