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What's the story?
AC Milan are looking to sign Greece international Kostas Manolas from AS Roma.
In case you didn't know...
The Milan club is currently undergoing big changes at their management level with Sampdoria manager Marco Giampaolo set to fill the Milan hot seat vacated by club legend Gennaro Gattuso.
The heart of the matter
According to renowned Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, AC Milan are keen to sign Greek centre back Kostas Manolas.
The 28-year old Manolas, despite having a contract till 2022, has a release clause of €36 million and is rumoured to be on the wishlist of many big clubs in Europe owing to the relatively small release clause.
According to the report, the Rossoneri has already initiated talks with the representatives of the Greek and are now trying to lower the €36 million release clause amount on the centre back.
The Giallorossi though are not expected to lower the valuation of Manolas. The defender joined AS Roma from Olympiacos in 2014 has made 35 appearances across all competitions for the Giallorossi in the 2018/19 season. He also enjoyed a passing accuracy of close to 88% and made 1.9 interceptions per game in Serie A. Overall, he has over 200 appearances for the Rome side in his five seasons at the club.
The Milan side is also rumoured looking at Liverpool centre back Dejan Lovren as a potential alternative for Kostas Manolas. Lovren has played second fiddle to other players in the Reds' team this season.
What's next?
The Rossoneri are expected to make a few more signings by the end of the transfer window with the central defensive position being one of the most looked at. This is after the departure of Cristian Zapata who has been at AC Milan since 2012.
