Milan step up the search for a new centre-back

With the sale of Milan appearing closer than ever to being completed, Milan are making the necessary preparations to be major players in the transfer market. Sky Italia is linking Milan to a trio of young centre-backs, Villarreal's Mateo Musacchio, Benfica's Victor Lindelof, and Bayer Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah. Sky went on to report that Musacchio and Lindelof have high buyout clauses making the deals difficult, but Tah has emerged as a concrete target for the Rossoneri.

Meanwhile there are reports emerging from Italy that Milan CEO Adriano Galliani was visiting Ibiza last week and had a meeting with Musachio's representatives. Spanish publication Marca took it one step forward, reporting that Milan have offered €20 million for the Argentine defender and are in negotiations with Villarreal to come to an agreement on the fee. Marca also report that Villarreal will not hold out for Musacchio's buyout clause (rumoured to be in the neighbourhood of €35 million) to be met, but are demanding more than the €20 million offered to sell the defender who holds an Italian passport to the Rossoneri.

The fact that Milan continue to be linked to quality young defenders is incredibly encouraging, as finding a proper centre-back to partner with Romagnoli is an absolute priority going into next season.

Although it's early in the transfer window, and Milan have yet to really close any deals (Lapadula aside) seeing the Rossoneri linked with quality young names like Marko Pjaca from Dinamo Zagreb and Piotr Zielinski out of Empoli, in addition to the names mentioned above is incredibly encouraging.  While nothing has happened yet, this summer has the makings of a positive one for Milan.