Chelsea's French midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko celebrates after scoring during the English Premier League football match between Huddersfield Town and Chelsea at the John Smith's stadium in Huddersfield. (Getty Images)
Italian outlet Calciomercato (h/t The Express), Chelsea manager Frank Lampard could sell midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko this summer, with the midfielder keen on securing a move to AC Milan.
Tiemoue Bakayoko, 25, arrived at Chelsea for £40million from AS Monaco in 2017 but has struggled to cement his place in the first-team. The French midfielder has seen limited game time at Stamford Bridge, having spent the past 18 months out on loan at AC Milan and former club Monaco.
Despite a slow start to life in Italy, the 25-year-old established himself in Gennaro Gattuso’s side last season, scoring and assisting a goal apiece in 42 appearances. Bakayoko was shipped to Monaco on loan last summer, where he has netted a goal and registered two assists in 23 Ligue 1 appearances.
Having said that, should Chelsea offload the Frenchman at the end of the season? Yes, they must sell him without any second thoughts.
Frank Lampard, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, couldn’t buy players during the summer transfer window as the club were slapped with a two-window transfer ban. While the transfer ban was lifted in January, Lampard failed to bring in new players.
However, the Blues acted swiftly to assure their backing to the 38-year-old tactician by wrapping up a deal for Ajax playmaker Hakim Ziyech. With a few more quality additions over the summer, Lampard has reason to believe that his team can gel well and mount a title challenge next season, with his youthful transition in the first-team already showing signs of reaping rich rewards.
The likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori, Reece James and Billy Gilmour have enjoyed their breakthrough campaigns and the charismatic presence of Lampard has been instrumental in extracting the best out of the talented academy stars. Clearly, Lampard is building a squad for the future and there’s no place for Bakayoko in his plans.
Bakayoko hasn’t really reached the heights he achieved at Monaco and a move away from Chelsea could be the right move for him. The Blues need to sell him now and get a decent sum for the Frenchman rather than send him out on loan again. He excelled at AC Milan in the Serie A last term instead of just being a bench warmer at Chelsea.
It would be ideal for Bakayoko to leave Stamford Bridge. After all, he is 25 and entering the prime stages of his career. The £110,000-a-week Frenchman needs to play regularly if he’s to get his career back on track. All in all, the Blues offloading the midfielder would make sense for all parties involved.
Thus, Chelsea should not hesitate to cut the cord and bid adieu to Bakayoko this summer.
