Tuttosport: Milan forced to look at alternative CB targets – Brighton and Lecce duo on the list

After signing a striker, Massimiliano Allegri’s second need in January is a central defender, and the list of possible names is long.

As Tuttosport (via MilanNews) are reporting, Allegri’s favourite is a protégé from his time at Juventus, Federico Gatti. Milan have already explored the idea of signing him by offering a swap deal with Koni De Winter, but nothing has come of it.

The feeling, however, is that the Milan management will make another attempt for the Italian towards the end of the transfer window, hoping that Luciano Spalletti continues to consider him as a back-up option.

The other names

Landing Gatti doesn’t appear to be a simple feat, though, so the club are evaluating other options to bolster Allegri’s defence. One of them is Brighton’s Diego Coppola, formerly of Verona, who is also the subject of strong interest from Torino.

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Igli Tare’s list also includes Leicester’s Caleb Okoli, who was offered in the summer, and Lecce’s Tiago Gabriel. Lecce’s sporting director Pantaleo Corvino has been keen to clarify that the club have absolutely no intention of selling the player this January, so that’s another tough track.

Other potential candidates that have emerged in recent weeks include Lazio’s Mario Gila, Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, Nottingham Forest’s Morato and Nikola Milenkovic, Chelsea’s Axel Disasi, Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae and Fenerbahce’s Milan Skriniar. The latter two, however, will be very hard to sign.

There’s no shortage of names to strengthen the rearguard, now all that remains is to figure out the best profile and the best terms.