Milan have made a second bid for Chelsea striker Christian Pulisic in a deal worth up to €22m (£18.9m).
Milan made an opening bid of €14m for the UMSNT captain at the weekend with Chelsea valuing him even higher.
Lyon also made a €25m bid for Pulisic earlier this week, more in line with the figure Chelsea are hoping for.
Pulisic, who has only a year left on his contract with Chelsea, already has an agreement with Milan.
Chelsea and Milan have built up a good relationship in the past few years, with Olivier Giroud, Fikayo Tomori, Tiemoue Bakayoko and, most recently, Ruben Loftus-Cheek all joining the Italian club.
The arrival of Loftus-Cheek means Milan have filled one of two non-EU scoring slots for next season. Pulisic will not count from the second because he holds a Croatian passport.
However, Milan is still very keen on Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze and is in contact with the Spanish club as Stefano Pioli’s team seeks to strengthen the front line.
Pulisic has played just 813 minutes in all competitions for Chelsea in 2022-23 with just nine of his 25 appearances since the start.
He joined from Borussia Dortmund in a £58m deal in January 2019 before remaining on loan in Germany for the remainder of the season.
Pulisic was part of the Champions League winning squad in 2020-21, scoring in the first leg of the semi-final against Real Madrid.
Despite his struggles domestically, Pulisic remains a key player for the United States, with 60 caps and 25 goals.
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Pulisic ranked 20th in the squad for minutes played in all competitions in 2022-23 and has given Chelsea plenty of signs in the first year of ownership Todd Bohle and Clearlake Capital that they are moving from America, not the least of which is spending over £100m ($124.1m) combined. On the pound sterling and Mykhailo Modric.
It is hard to pinpoint the source of the hatred towards Pulisic from some in the Chelsea fan base. His perceived criticism of famed former coach Thomas Tuchel in his 2022 book has gone bad with many.
Some of it may also be a reaction to the hype that still surrounds him across the Atlantic as the face of American football – a hype he has largely justified with a series of impressive performances in world Cup in Qatar.
Perhaps arising simply from frustration, after a sharp end to the COVID-19 affected 2019-20 season, Pulisic has never come close to regaining such form.
(Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
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