Paolo Maldini has confirmed AC Milan’s interest in signing reported Leicester City and Aston Villa target Florian Thauvin, while speaking to Telefoot.
In truth, Marseille have done little to convince one of their star players to stay put at the Stade Velodrome.
The 2-0 home defeat to Porto in midweek means L’OM have now lost 13 consecutive Champions League games; the most in the competition’s history.
Marseille haven’t made much progress off the field either, with Thauvin admitting to BeIN Sports that the Ligue 1 giants are yet to open talks over a new deal, with his current contract due to expire in July.
The chance to sign a World Cup winner on the cheap hasn’t gone unnoticed elsewhere in Europe, with TMW claiming that Leicester and Villa are willing to overlook Thauvin’s miserable, short-lived spell at Steve McClaren’s Newcastle.
Calciomercato, meanwhile, state that Brendan Rodgers has made it clear to the Foxes board that he wants to add Thauvin to his already impressive front line.
With Serie A leaders AC Milan throwing their hat publicly into the ring, however, Leicester and Aston Villa have a seven-time European champion for competition.
“His contract is ending so from the economic point of view he’s very interesting,” the legendary figure of Maldini explained, before admitting that 27-year-old Thauvin is at odds with Milan’s new-look policy of signing exciting youngsters.
“He’s not the type of player we bought in the recent years because he is a bit old but we think that the solution is mixing players with experience with younger players. For sure he’s a player we must follow.”
Pianeta Milan report that Milan must sell before they can buy, with Marseille demanding £18 million in January.
Thauvin, meanwhile, is asking for £85,000-a-week.
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