AC Milan have held discussions with Tottenham Hotspur in the hope of prising Pape Matar Sarr away on a possible loan move this summer, according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio. 

Tottenham’s Managing Director of Football, Fabio Paratici, is currently in Milan to discuss some potential outgoings and has held talks with potential suitors. He has met with the Rossoneri to negotiate about Japhet Tanganga, who has attracted attention from those at San Siro.

Milan want to sign Tanganga on an initial loan deal while including a clause to buy him permanently in the future. However, he was not the only talking point as Matar Sarr was also among the topic of discussion with the Serie A outfit also keen to take him on loan.

Spurs signed Matar Sarr from Metz for a fee of €18million (£15.3million), which could rise further due to add-ons (The Athletic) and decided to immediately loan him back to the French side for a season last summer, after which he has now returned to N17. 

The teenager featured in both of Spurs’ pre-season friendlies in South Korea and will be hoping for further game time tomorrow when they face Rangers in Glasgow.

Our View

The Senegal international was named Men’s Young Player of the Year at the 2022 Confederation of African Football (CAF) awards yesterday (Spurs official). He was also a part of the squad that won the African Cup of Nations earlier this year.

The 19-year-old had a good outing on loan in France in the previous campaign as he gained some valuable first-team experience that would help with his progression. He is currently being watched by Antonio Conte in the pre-season fixtures, as the boss will decide on the youngster’s future after his assessment (Football.London).

The African midfielder has featured against both K-League All-Stars and Sevilla so far, and he has shown some promise in both those games. Perhaps keeping hold of him would be in our best interests because of the lack of depth in midfield, which could affect us in a long season.

Oliver Skipp, Yves Bissouma, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur are fine options for the two midfield places. However, an injury or a suspension could disrupt our plans during the congested campaign that awaits us in the future.

After all, the likes of Harry Winks, Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele are likely to leave after they have been deemed dispensable by Conte (The Sun). Their departures call for the need for at least one more midfielder so perhaps not letting Matar Sarr join Stefano Pioli’s side could be helpful for us.