AC Milan may have found themselves a replacement for wantaway left-back Theo Hernandez but face competition from Atletico Madrid and more, TEAMtalk can reveal.
The Italian giants have tried and failed to tie Hernandez down to a new contract but it seems the France international may be heading for pastures new ahead of next season.
As a result, Milan – who won’t be playing European football next term – will try to get a fee for the defender this summer, rather than losing him on a free in 2026.
If the 27-year-old does move on, our sources have been told that Milan remain interested in Girona left-back Miguel Gutierrez, but so do Atletico.
The Spanish team have been tracking the 23-year-old for almost a year, and manager Diego Simeone is a big admirer of the former Real Madrid man.
In Italy, both Juventus and Napoli have also shown interest in the 5ft 11in player – who has an affordable price tag of €20-25 million (£16.7-21m), despite having a €35m (£29m) release clause.
This comes at a time when Hernandez has given Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal the green light to continue talks over a possible summer switch.
Gutierrez spent 11 years of his life at Madrid but made just 10 appearances in all competitions for them, before moving to Girona in 2022.
Since then, he has made a name for himself at the Catalonia outfit, racking up 111 appearances over the past three seasons.
Although Los Blancos sold the former Spain Under-21 international, they had enough wherewithal to insert a buy-back clause worth just €8m in the transfer arrangement.
Moreover, if they don’t take up the option to bring him back to Santiago Bernabeu, they have a 50 per cent future sell-on clause.
Either way, all the aforementioned teams see Gutierrez as a smart, good value option and all of them have contacted his entourage to express their interest ahead of the summer window.
Now it just remains to be seen what will happen for Hernandez and if the race will heat up for Gutierrez – whose deal runs until 2027.
