Milan market, Kim or Luiz Felipe names for the defense

Journalist

December 31st – 9.55am – MILANO

The possible maneuvers in attack do not distract Casa Milan’s transfer men from the first, true need of Massimiliano Allegri’s squad: another defender capable of alternating with the three starters. It is enough to read the Rossoneri bench in the last match of the championship against Verona to understand the urgency: without Gabbia and with De Winter in his place, the only central defender was the young Odogu, who took advantage of the comfortable 3-0 to make his debut in Serie A. Well, in more complicated situations and matches something better would be needed. Or at least more ready. Thus, sporting director Igli Tare is looking for the ideal profile, knowing full well that without exits the margins for maneuver will be very limited. Translated from the “mercatese”: nowadays, it is easier to think about a loan. Possibly a player who already knows Italy and has good international experience.

Ideal

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In the summer, the possibility of signing Kim, a Korean from Bayern Munich who also won Serie A, in 2022-23 with Napoli was explored. Nothing was done about it, mostly for economic reasons: in Germany the power plant makes a disproportionate amount of money. Has the scenario changed in recent months? Kim hasn’t played very much (9 games in the Bundesliga for 525′, 5 in the Champions League for 161′, 2 in the German Cup for 94′ and one in the German Super Cup for 10′), despite the emergency in defense among the Bavarians (Japanese Ito only returned in November), and he certainly hasn’t enchanted the German fans, who in a recent Bild poll placed him in fifth place in the flop rankings of 2025. Bayern could also do without him, but to make him a viable option for Milan, they would also have to contribute to the salary, perhaps behind the promise of a buyout in the summer. Not a very easy scenario. From the Korean’s side, a transfer would be seen positively, as a chance to relaunch himself in a tournament in which he has already shown he can make the difference. In short, the ideal solution, just as Kim could be for the Devil, even if he missed the last day of the Bundesliga, before Christmas, due to a muscle problem.

The others

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A decidedly more accessible name is that of Axel Disasi, currently out of the squad at Chelsea. There was also talk about it recently in via Aldo Rossi, but the Frenchman born in 1998 hasn’t played for a long time and above all he doesn’t know Serie A. In short, it would be a risk, even more so in the middle of the season, when the insertion processes would necessarily have to be accelerated. Just as Niklas Süle, a giant with an enviable palmares and expiring in June with Borussia Dortmund, is not convincing, for the moment, in terms of quality/price ratio. An old obsession of Tare is Luiz Felipe, who the Albanian manager brought to Lazio in 2017: today the Brazilian defender is at Rayo Vallecano, recovering from an annoying injury. Advantages: he costs little, very little (his contract expires in six months) and he played for years in Italy in a three-man defense. Contraindications: he must get back to his best form and when he left Lazio as a free transfer – after having refused the renewal -, relations with Tare logically became cold. In football, relationships can always be recovered, of course. Meanwhile, the Rossoneri sporting director continues the hunt: Gabbia’s recovery could take away a bit of haste in the choice.