AC Milan want to sign Chelsea centre-back Fikayo Tomori permanently, but feel that the £26million option they have on him is too high.
Tomori has impressed during his loan spell at the San Siro, with Milan keen to keep him at the club for the long term, but they are reluctant to commit to such a high fee.
Ahead of the Rossoneri’s 2-1 win over Roma, which sees them remain second in the table, four points behind rivals Inter Milan, technical director Paolo Maldini spoke to Sky in Italy about Tomori’s impact.
“Tomori is a good talent and we have a buy-option clause. The price is very high. AC Milan will decide at the end of this season and we will discuss it with Chelsea's board,” said Maldini.
“Tomori is a player who has particular characteristics of speed and intensity and for us, he was a reinforcement.”
The England international, who won his first, and so far only, cap against Kosovo in November 2019, had been desperate for game time after a frustrating first half of the season at Chelsea.
He made just four appearances in all competitions, languishing behind Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger in the pecking order.
Although Frank Lampard had taken Tomori on loan to Derby County in his first managerial job, and championed his progress as he played 22 games last season for Chelsea, he was given few opportunities to play this time around.
His only Premier League appearance came in the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool back in October after Christensen had been sent off.
Eager to keep developing, Tomori seized the opportunity to move to AC Milan, agreeing a loan deal until the end of the season.
The 23-year-old has made seven appearances so far as Milan target a first Serie A title in 10 years and continued progress in the Europa League, where they face Manchester United in the quarter-finals.
