Saturday’s reports claim that Milan have two leading candidates in mind to replace goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who could be allowed to leave the club on a free transfer at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
Maignan is into the final year of his contract in San Siro, and has not yet come to an agreement over an extension.
While there have been plenty of discussions over a potential extension over the last 12 months, a couple of sticking points have emerged, according to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Firstly, Maignan is expecting an increase in wages, while Milan are uncertain about making a significant investment on a player who will be 31 at the start of next season, has not been entirely convincing in recent months, and has also struggled with injuries at various points.
That leaves the door open for Maignan to potentially leave the club at the end of his current contract, unless an agreement over a new extension is found over the next few months. Juventus, Chelsea and Bayern Munich are among the clubs reportedly interested in picking up Maignan on a free transfer.
Who could Milan bring in if Maignan leaves for free?
According to Saturday’s reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport, there are two leading candidates that Milan currently have in mind to replace Maignan if he does decide to leave the club before next summer.
Parma’s Zion Suzuki is one of them. The Japan international was brought in from Sint-Truiden at a reported cost of €8m last summer, and according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, his value has since doubled.
Another option for Milan is SC Freiburg’s Noah Atubolu, who has recently earned his first call-up to the Germany national team. He is valued similarly, albeit slightly higher than Suzuki at around €18m according to Saturday’s reports.
Reports elsewhere claim that Cagliari’s Elia Caprile is also an enticing option for the Rossoneri, but he is expected to cost significantly more than Suzuki or Atubolu.
Milan will buy anything but an Italy player.
There are better keepers in serie b than suzuki.