Milan to Try to Add Touted Benfica Defender Next Summer | OneFootball

Milan found a new ally in super-agent Jorge Mendes through the hiring of Sergio Conceiçao, and he’ll try to bring one of his most talented clients, Antonio Silva, to San Siro in the summer. The representative was instrumental in brokering the Joao Felix deal with Chelsea, Calciomercato informs.

The center-back was keen on transferring in January, but Benfica weren’t on the same page. He was linked in particular to Juventus, which had a hole at the position. However, the Bianconeri could only sign him on loan, promising but without formally committing to a future acquisition.

Juventus moved on, eventually signing Renato Veiga from Chelsea and Lloyd Kelly from Newcastle United, while Milan kept tabs on Antonio Silva until late in the window. However, they didn’t attempt to onboard a new center-back as Fikayo Tomori refused every destination.

The plan will be the same in the summer, hoping the Englishman will change his mind. Tottenham were the last side to track him. He has a few more suitors in his home country. The Old Lady also came close to purchasing him.

The Rossoneri will seek to nudge him out the door and turn a profit to have more ammo to acquire the Portuguese prodigy. However, his price tag is no less than €45M.

Our Take on Milan, Tomori, and Antonio Silva

The former is clearly very available, but they’ll have to convince him to leave first. It’d be stunning if they splurged that much for anybody no matter his talent, but they have already tweaked their MO in January, first onboarding a veteran and then paying more than what they were used to Santiago Gimenez.