Chukwueze contemplates leaving Milan as Osimhen's injury gives Galasataray a headache

Super Eagles star Samuel Chukwueze looks to leave AC Milan in January, with the winger said to be on the radar of Atletico Madrid and Premier League duo West Ham and Aston Villa.

Chukwueze joined Milan from Spanish club Villarreal during the 2023 summer transfer window for a deal worth €20m plus some substantial bonuses, which made him the most expensive signing of a window that saw 10 players join the San Siro outfit.

Since joining the Rossoneri, the Nigerian has struggled to replicate the form that made him a household name at the Yellow Submarines during his five-year spell at the Estadio de la Cerámica.

Chukwueze has made only 39 appearances for Milan, scoring three goals and as many assists since arriving at San Siro.

The 25-year-old has grossed 175 from a possible 540 minutes across six Serie A games.

Milan manager Paulo Fonseca, in a recent press conference, confirmed that Chukwueze had no space in his team, urging the Nigerian to make a move elsewhere.

“He had a very good preseason when he had space against big teams. When we arrived here, against Torino and Lazio, I think Chukwueze was not as good as in the pre-season,” Fonseca said.

“It’s not a problem of quality but of confidence. He needs to gain confidence and play in this context: in Serie A he has no space; he has to make movements at the right time.”

Following the manager’s statement, an Italian website Les-transferts wrote that the former Villarreal man could return to Spain with Atletico Madrid interested in his service.

“Samuel Chukwueze could leave AC Milan to head to Spain during the next winter transfer window,” the website wrote. “With his contract ending in June 2028, Samuel Chukwueze could leave AC Milan during the next winter transfer window. Having appeared six times this season in the league, the 25-year-old right winger could have an exit voucher in January.

“Regarding his future, the Nigerian international (38 caps, 5 goals) would have the possibility of making his return to Spain. According to information revealed by Fichajes, the latter would be in the sights of Atlético Madrid.

“Estimated at €20m on the transfer market, the native of Umahaia would also be on the tablets of West Ham and Aston Villa.”

Elsewhere, Galatasaray Technical Director Okan Buruk bemoans the injury to Victor Osimhen as the striker races to be fit for the club’s subsequent matches.

The 25-year-old clashed with Kasimpasa goalkeeper Andreas Gianniotis shortly after the restart of the second half of Saturday’s Turkish Super Lig fixture and signalled to be substituted, raising concerns about his availability for both club and country in the coming days.

Osimhen had put Galatasaray 2-0 up in the first 28 minutes before being pulled and watched the rest of the proceeding from the bench as the team squandered their healthy lead to draw 3-3.

The Napoli loanee opened the scoring on 20 minutes, his dock breaker, delivering a simple finish from an Abdulkerim Bardakcı cross before doubling his lead and completing his brace in a spectacular eight minutes later.

Speaking with the club’s media team, Buruk laments the injury to the player who has hit the ground running at the Istanbul giants.

He said, “One of our biggest fears was injury. This happened in Osimhen. I said it last week. We play on Wednesday, and our next match is on Thursday. Someone assigns us a match for Saturday. The match planning means this. Let’s squeeze you; let’s injure you. Go to the next European match without missing. This is what they are saying directly. The rotations we made were due to the fear of injury. We played four matches in a row. Three days later, another match was added. We started well. We got to 3-0. If we had gone into the first half without conceding a goal, it might have been different for us. Our start to the second half was not good.”