AC Milan are reportedly looking to sell Keisuke Honda, Diego Lopez and Nigel De Jong in the January transfer window after all three have become surplus to requirement.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, the Rossoneri are willing to listen to offers for the trio as they look to sell their fringe players in order to open up space in the squad for new arrivals in January and the summer.
Honda has found himself on the bench since October after criticising the club as they went through a difficult period under coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, with the Japanese international insisting that the players weren’t to blame for the struggles.
It appears as though his words of wisdom didn’t go down well with the hierarchy, and so his opportunities have been limited since which in turn has led to speculation that he could be sold as early as January.
Meanwhile, De Jong has also been dropped to the bench with Mihajlovic preferring to use a midfield consisting of the likes of Riccardo Montolivo and Juraj Kucka. The Dutchman remains an important figure in the dressing room, but naturally he will be desperate to get playing time too.
Lopez is also in a similar situation after losing his place to Gianluigi Donnarumma after a string of damaging mistakes between the posts.
The Spaniard’s drop in form allowed his 16-year-old teammate to grab his chance to impress, and after an injury setback compounded his misery, it doesn’t appear as though the former Real Madrid shot-stopper has a future at the San Siro.
With reports suggesting that Southampton and Leicester City are interested in Honda and De Jong respectively, as reported by talkSPORT, it remains to be seen whether the pair find themselves in the Premier League in the second half of the season while Football Italia note that Liverpool have been linked with a move for Lopez.