Chelsea have announced on their official website that Tiemoué Bakayoko has rejoined AC Milan on a two-year loan deal this summer. It has been stated that the French midfield ace will now spend the next two seasons at San Siro before returning to Chelsea in the summer of 2023, when he will just have a year left in his contract.
Bakayoko’s Impressive Campaign In Italian Football
The 27-year-old had an impressive loan spell at Naples as he managed to put in a handful of influential displays at the heart of Napoli’s midfield last season. Bakayoko appeared in 44 matches for the Italian side in the previous campaign, scoring two goals and providing two assists in the process across multiple competitions.
The Paris-born midfield ace performed well to average 2.2 tackles, 1.1 interceptions, 0.5 shots and 0.8 dribbles per game in the last Serie A season. He also distributed possession with a lot of conviction from midfield after making 88.3% of his attempted passes in the top tier of Italian football (stats via whoscored).
Bakayoko has proven himself to be a tough-tackling midfielder who can hamper the opposition’s flow in the game at the centre of the park. However, he would have struggled to gain any playing time at Stamford Bridge, so he will benefit from spending two years on loan at San Siro, where he was once a solid performer back in the 2018-19 campaign.
Bakayoko Seals A Move To AC Milan: Good Move For Everyone Involved?
Bakayoko is a strong midfielder who loves a tackle in midfield and can time his challenges well to come away with the ball. He can even make some powerful runs with the ball towards the opponent’s penalty box but needs to work on improving his productivity in the final third.
The French midfield ace is a tidy passer of the ball and usually works his socks off for the benefit of his team. However, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has already got Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic as his first-choice midfielders. Hence, he simply didn’t have the luxury to offer Bakayoko regular playing minutes at Stamford Bridge this season.
Therefore, it is only logical for both the player and the London club to move on in search of more success in the future. All in all, Bakayoko’s two-year loan switch to Milan seems like a good move for everyone involved as Chelsea can benefit from getting his salary off their wage bill, especially after Romelu Lukaku’s big-money arrival from Inter Milan earlier this summer.
