Milan looking to strengthen the defense: Romagnoli, Laporte and Moreno the targets

After signing players for the midfield and attack, Milan now want to get a man for the defense.

Milan signed Andrea Bertolacci and Carlos Bacca will put pen to paper soon and now are turning their intentions towards improving the defense, which conceded 50 goals in Serie A in the passing season.

Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic wants the club to sign left-footed central defender and according to both Sky Italia and La Gazzetta dello Sport, the number one target of Miha is Roma’s Alessio Romagnoli, who like Bertolacci didn’t play for the Giallorossi last season but impressed greatly for Sampdoria.

There is a bit of tension between the 20-year-old and Roma as the player asked for 2-3 more days of rest before coming to Rome due to his participation in the U21 European championship but the club from the capital did not grant him permission and it appears there’s a rift between the sides.

Sky and Gazzetta report that Milan have been told by Roma that €30m will get them Romagnoli but it is currently considered excessive. Miha wants Romagnoli who played under him at Samp but according to the player’s agent, the fact that the Diavolo are not in Europe is a problem: “Romagnoli to Milan has a big obstacle and that is the Rossoneri’s lack of European competition. If Juventus called, then Roma could let him go. He wants to play in Europe,” Federico Cavalli told Sportitalia.

The other options are Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte (21) and Espanyol’s Hector Moreno (27). The young defender is wanted by a lot of clubs around Europe and has an exit clause of about €50 million and Sky reports that Milan could make an offer soon (although they’re unlikely to meet the clause right away). Moreno meanwhile has a contract until 2016 and would be a lot more affordable but the problem is that the Mexico international doesn’t have a European passport.

Signing one of Laporte or Romagnoli would mean an important financial sacrifice for the club that’s already spent €50m this summer. Aymen Abdennour appears to no longer be an option as he too doesn’t have a European passport and his agent stated that the player doesn’t want Serie A move.

Adil Rami is expected to leave the club this summer while the contracts of Philippe Mexes and Bonera expire today (although they may still be renewed). Milan finally think about the defense.