AC MILAN want to complete the permanent transfer of Fikayo Tomori for £25million this summer.
The Chelsea and England defender, 23, is enjoying himself on loan at the San Siro this season.
Part of the contract signed in January included the option for Milan to buy him at the end of the six-month agreement.
And manager Stefano Piolo confirmed his side intend to activate the clause to keep Tomori.
He said: “We want to buy Tomori on a permanent deal from Chelsea.
“Our intention is clear and also Fikayo’s decision [staying at Milan].
“We’ll see what happens at the end of the season.”
Journalist Fabrizio Romano adds a final decision will be made at the end of the campaign with AC Milan intent on securing a deal.
Brainbox Tomori has been a mainstay in the AC defence since arriving in Italy with 19 appearances including four clean sheets.
And he was particularly impressive on Sunday night as Milan thumped Juventus 3-0 at the Allianz Stadium.
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
Not only did the Chelsea academy graduate keep Cristiano Ronaldo quiet for the 90 minutes, but he also thumped in a header to complete the scoring.
It was his first goal in Italian football and, following stunners from Brahim Diaz and Ante Rebic, put the Rossoneri on course to secure Champions League qualification.
AC Milan made their intentions clear as early as March they want to keep Tomori beyond this season by activating the clause.
Milan’s vice-president Franco Baressi told Gazzetta dello Sport: “We will do everything possible to sign him on a permanent deal.”
I was suddenly out of the squad and I don’t really know why… it was so frustrating
Fikayo Tomori on being frozen out at Chelsea
But as revealed by SunSport in April, Milan may try and negotiate a lower transfer fee for Tomori amid their financial struggles following the coronavirus pandemic.
The centre-back opened up on going from ‘100 to zero’ under previous Blues boss Frank Lampard and suddenly finding himself frozen out.
Tomori told The Telegraph: “I’ll always be grateful for the opportunities he gave me.
“Maybe because of our history he thought I would accept it, but from my perspective, with that history, it felt more personal and harder to understand.
“I don’t know what happened, it wasn’t really explained to me. I was suddenly out of the squad and I don’t really know why. It was so frustrating.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
