AC Milan are treating Fikayo Tomori less like a fixed part of the squad and more like a player they may be ready to move on. He will be cut from the group for the friendly with Manchester United, he is training separately from the first-team squad, and Milan are reportedly holding out for €20m even if they are prepared to cut their losses.

Milan's signals on Tomori

The sequence matters more than any one update. Tomori has still played 37 matches in all competitions in the 2025-26 campaign, but the signs around him are pointing in a different direction now. A player who was once central enough to be talked about as a starter is being managed like a sale candidate.

Fabio Capello, writing to thehardtackle.com, was still surprised by the drift. "I thought he would be useful to Amorim in some way. Let's not forget that the Englishman was a starter last season and also played in the years when Milan won the Scudetto and reached the Champions League semi-final," he said.

Capello also felt Milan may be giving away more than they should. "Tomori is not the central defender who is good at setting up the attack that the Portuguese coach probably prefers. But given the defenders currently in the squad, I would have thought carefully before releasing the Englishman," he said.

The clubs in the picture

The interest is no longer coming from one corner. Coventry, Newcastle and Liverpool have all been reported as possible destinations, while other reports have added clubs such as Aston Villa, Lazio, Benfica and even Nuno Tavares into the wider mix.

Coventry's pitch is the easiest one to understand. Frank Lampard worked with Tomori at Derby and Chelsea, which gives the Championship club a personal link in the chase. That connection may not win the race on its own, but it does give Coventry a cleaner sales line than most of the other names floating around.

Liverpool and Newcastle can sell a different idea: a ready-made centre-back with top-level experience. Capello accepted that Tomori is not the ideal build-up defender for a team wanting cleaner passing from the back, but he still argued Milan should think twice before letting him go. Milan's reported €20m asking price will help shape how serious that market becomes, and the club's next public step will be judged against the squad call for the Manchester United friendly.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 6 outlets. How we work →