While an official announcement is still missing, Milan have reportedly decided to exercise their option to sign Simon Kjaer on a permanent basis after a positive run since joining us in January.
As noted on the club’s official site on January 13, the 31-year-old agreed to join us on a loan deal until the end of the season, while we had an option to sign him outright from Sevilla this summer.
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According to MilanNews, and via Gianluca Di Marzio’s tweet below, it appears as though that decision has now been made and the Dane will sign a permanent deal after emerging as an influential figure at the back for us.
Il @acmilan ha riscattato @simonkjaer1989 dal @SevillaFC #calciomercato @SkySport
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) July 14, 2020
Signing Kjaer a sensible swoop from Milan
Kjaer has made 13 appearances for us thus far, and perhaps the only real negative of note is his susceptibility to picking up knocks as he has sustained a couple of setbacks in a matter of months.
That said, in the nine Serie A games that he has been involved in for the Rossoneri, we’ve won seven of them and conceded nine goals as his experience, calmness, solidity and all-round presence in the heart of the backline next to captain Alessio Romagnoli has made a crucial difference to our defending as a whole.
The duo are showing signs of developing a solid partnership at the back, and if Kjaer does now extend his stay as reported, they have a big opportunity to build on that and continue to establish themselves as the first-choice pairing in defence beyond this season.
Further, MilanNews note in their report above that he will be signed for just €3.5m, and so given the positive influence he has had on the squad and what he can offer moving forward next season, it ultimately seems like a no-brainer to sign him on a permanent basis at this point.
There is also a knock-on effect of that decision as Milan can then consider the respective futures of Mateo Musacchio and Leo Duarte too given we’re perhaps overloaded in that department, as with Kjaer set to stick around, we could assess the market and bring in additional funds by offloading one of the pair, as it’s worth noting that Musacchio’s current contract is set to expire in 2021.
If Kjaer isn’t considered a long-term solution, he is a solid squad option at the very least on the basis of what we’ve seen from him this year. While he ticks all the right boxes to address what has been a problematic position over the years as Romagnoli has seen countless defensive partners come and go, it’s the smart move from Milan to keep him on board as he has cemented himself as a reliable figure in the side.