Chelsea will reportedly bring back Mario Pasalic from his season-long loan deal with AC Milan in January as he continues to struggle to feature for the club.
The 21-year-old enjoyed a productive spell at Monaco last season, but he has failed to replicate that at the San Siro thus far.
With the likes of Riccardo Montolivo, Juraj Kucka and Giacomo Bonaventura preferred to him by Vincenzo Montella in Milan’s three-man midfield, it has been difficult for the Croatian to earn playing time.
In turn, he hasn’t played competitively so far this season, and has been restricted to featuring in a friendly against Bournemouth earlier this month.
According to The Sun, Conte is ready to call him back to Stamford Bridge as part of his idea to oversee an overhaul at the club after disappointing recent results.
Pasalic himself will undoubtedly be keen to find a solution that sees him play regularly, but it remains to be seen whether or not the potential decision to recall him is with a view of making him a part of Conte’s plans, or to find him a better fit for the remainder of the campaign.
Following defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal, Conte could be forced to reassess his squad at Chelsea, as noted by The Sun, and is believed to be pushing for a rebuild of the team as they continue to falter with a lack of consistency.
Whether or not he’ll get the backing of Roman Abramovich to make that happen in the more immediate future is unclear, but Pasalic is seemingly in line to return to England in January and will hope that he will at least be given the opportunity to prove his worth to the Italian tactician.