Things simply haven’t gone to plan for Nikola Kalinic at AC Milan this season, and he could be set for an exit just a year after joining the Rossoneri.
Arriving alongside Andre Silva last summer, the Croatian international was expected to add experience to the frontline having enjoyed a previous spell at Fiorentina and produced a decent goalscoring rate.
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Instead, not only has youngster Patrick Cutrone outshone them both, but the Portuguese international is now staking his claim to be above Kalinic in the pecking order after back-to-back game-winning goals in the last two outings, while the under-fire 30-year-old has managed just four goals in 30 appearances.
As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, to make matters worse, Kalinic was dropped from the squad to face Chievo last weekend as Gennaro Gattuso took exception to his attitude and effort in training.
In turn, the future doesn’t look particularly bright for him at Milan, and now it’s claimed that he could be used in a swap deal for Torino striker Andrea Belotti.
As per Corriere dello Sport earlier this week, Milan were tipped to reignite their interest in the Italian international who was given a €100m price-tag by Torino president Urbano Cairo last summer.
To build on that, Calciomercato report that Kalinic could be included in their offer to drive down Belotti’s fee, but it’s unclear as to how much he is worth given his struggles this season.
Belotti has also found life tough this year, as while the 24-year-old has struggled with injury problems, he’s only managed nine goals and three assists in 25 appearances in all competitions, with just six of those strikes coming in Serie A.
Whether that makes Milan’s pursuit easier remains to be seen, while it’s also questionable if Torino have seen anything in Kalinic that they believe will be effective for them. For now, it seems like the two players in question at least would certainly benefit from a change in environment.