Lyon have reportedly opened talks for Chelsea outcast Tiemoue Bakayoko after negotiations with Cremonese stalled.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Lyon have stepped into the race to sign Chelsea loanee Tiemoue Bakayoko and have begun their pursuit of the current AC Milan midfielder in the last few hours.
Chelsea have been very busy when it comes to signing players, but a few exits have been touted in the January transfer window too. One player that Chelsea are desperately trying to offload is Tiemoue Bakayoko, who is currently on loan at AC Milan.
Bakayoko will go down as one of the biggest failed transfers of the Roman Abramovich era, if not the biggest. The Frenchman arrived for £40 million after playing a key role in AS Monaco’s magical season in 2016/17. The midfielder struggled to adjust to life at Stamford Bridge and looked like a shadow of himself.
Indeed, Bakayoko is still on Chelsea’s books despite last making an appearance for the Blues in 2018. After featuring 43 times for the club, he has been sent on multiple loans by Chelsea as they hoped it would maintain his value. He joined AC Milan for the 2018/19 season, performing reasonably well for once.
Understand Olympique Lyon have now opened talks to sign Tiemoué Bakayoko from Chelsea — currently on loan to AC Milan. 🚨🔴🔵 #OL #DeadlineDay
Deal not done with Serie A Cremonese and so OL are now trying. pic.twitter.com/I9Nwu4nms5
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 31, 2023
Bakayoko returned to AS Monaco in 2019/20 before taking a new opportunity in Serie A with Napoli in 2020/21. Then, AC Milan ended up signing Bakayao yet again on a two-year loan-to-buy deal, with the obligation only valid if the midfielder made a certain number of appearances.
He has had a disastrous time in Milan the second time around, though, and is deemed surplus to their requirements by Stefano Pioli. The Frenchman has not played a single game this season. And discontent is growing at Milan, who, along with Chelsea, have been contemplating how to permanently offload him for some time now.
One may think that after multiple horror stints, he would have no takers. That is certainly not the case. In fact, the midfielder rejected the chance to join Turkish outfit Adana Demirspor. The 28-year-old midfielder is wanted by Cremonese, who are trying to wrap up a deal for him on the final day of the January transfer window.
However, there is yet another twist in the tale, as it is reckoned that Lyon have now entered the fray as a potential option. It is understood that the negotiation between Cremosese and Bakayoko have stalled because Cremonese owner Giovanni Arvedi has not yet given the definitive go-ahead to complete the transfer, which perhaps suggests he has some concerns about his high wages.
That has alerted the attention of Lyon, who are keen to bolster their midfield after losing a lot of midfield talent in Romain Faivre, Tete, and Bruno Guimaraes in the past couple of transfer windows. In addition, the Ligue 1 giants are also bracing for Houssem Aouar’s potential exit. Whether Chelsea could finally offload the 28-year-old permanently before the deadline remains to seen.
