AC Milan are reportedly considering holding talks with Manchester United over a permanent move for Portuguese full-back Diogo Dalot.
According to a report from Italian publication Il Milanista, Serie A heavyweights AC Milan are keen on signing on-loan Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot on a permanent basis and are set to open talks over a potential €17 million deal.
Dalot joined Manchester United from Portuguese giants FC Porto in the summer of 2018. However, the promising right-back was never quite able to nail down a starting berth at Old Trafford. Fitness problems, coupled with the emergence of Aaron Wan-Bissaka as the Red Devils’ first-choice right-back meant opportunities became hard to come by for him.
As a result, Dalot was loaned out to AC Milan last summer for the duration of the 2020/21 campaign. It was a plain loan deal with no option or obligation to make the transfer permanent at the end of the season. But, the Rossoneri have been left impressed by the 21-year-old and are now hoping to convert his transfer into a permanent one.
Since moving to Italy, Dalot has featured 16 times across all competitions for Milan, scoring one goal and setting up a couple more. While he has been sparingly used in the Serie A, the Portuguese was a regular feature in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League campaign.
While he has not become the first-choice starter, Dalot has shown enough glimpses of his ability for the AC Milan hierarchy to consider signing him on a permanent basis. To that end, the Rossoneri are now considering holding talks with Manchester United over a potential deal, which could cost them up to €17 million.
It will, however, be interesting to see if Manchester United do sanction such a deal. The Red Devils have little depth at right-back after having sold Timothy Fosu-Mensah to Bayer Leverkusen in the January transfer window. Youngster Ethan Laird, who is currently out on loan, is an option that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could look at.
In addition, Manchester United have also been linked with a move for Norwich City’s promising right-back Max Aarons as well. So, it remains to be seen if there is a way back at Old Trafford for Dalot or whether the 20-time English champions are happy to let him move to Lombardy on a permanent basis come summer.
