GdS: Starters with suitcases packed – Emerson and Pavlovic’s bizarre situation | OneFootball

Tonight’s game against Girona could involve a strange situation for AC Milan, as half of their defence will be made up of players potentially on their way out.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport report today, Emerson Royal and Strahinja Pavlovic are both gearing up to start against Girona this evening, while also potentially packing their suitcases getting ready for a flight from San Siro to Turkey or England.

In Emerson’s case, the imminent arrival of Kyle Walker would end up putting him in a corner. The Brazilian – a starter first under Paulo Fonseca and then under Sergio Conceiçao – is wanted by Galatasaray.

The possible formula is a loan with option to buy and a figure for the buy-out set at around €10m or just over, which is little less than the purchase price of around €15m paid to Tottenham in the summer.

However, Milan are hoping that there is competition, because Fulham and Everton would like to bring Emerson back to the Premier League. Tomorrow the player’s agents will be in Italy to find out his wishes and define the situation in person.

Emerson also risks losing a spot in the Champions League squad, given that Walker must be added. So, it is likely that after only five months with the Rossoneri he will decide to open up to the possibility of a new phase in his career.

Pavlovic will play almost out of necessity at centre-back, because the absences of Malick Thiaw and Fikayo Tomori have forced Conceiçao’s hand. In fact, the Portuguese actually suggested that he’d rather not play him in yesterday’s press conference.

“Pavlovic is available to the group. It’s not his fault if he hasn’t played yet, he trained well, also with incredible desire: sometimes however he comes out of position and I don’t like that much. We have two central defenders but I can also put a midfielder to play in that position,” he said.

Milan will decide what to do only after tonight’s game, given a convincing performance make the club change their mind. Fenerbahçe’s offer is a big one: over €20m. In essence, after just 10 games as a starter for the Rossoneri, they would pay more than the €18m paid to RB Salzburg in the summer.