Milan to Attempt to Recall Thriving Loanee from OL

Zachary Athekame is going like gangbusters in his loan at Olympique Lyonnais, to the point that Milan are seriously pondering trying to bring him back in January already. The fullback departed on a simple loan with no strings attached, La Gazzetta dello Sport informs.

The talent has started and gone the full 90 minutes in almost every fixture. He has produced in the final third, tallying two goals and two assists. He has shown pretty well with Switzerland as well.

Milan have no clauses to recall Athekame early unilaterally, so they must convince Olympique Lyonnais. They hope the player will push to return as well, as he’d find more room compared to when he left in the summer.

The Rossoneri planned to use Samuel Chukwueze and Alexis Saelemaekers on the right wing. However, the latter will miss months due to a right ankle injury. Ruben Amorim has had some trouble when the former ran out of gas, turning to Omari Hutchinson, who’s not a natural at the position. In addition, the gaffer has been using different schemes than his standard 3-4-2-1. The youngster could also get minutes as a pure fullback.

The Italian side spent €10M to snap him up from Young Boys. He progressively earned Massimiliano Allegri’s trust, totaling 29 appearances last season.

Our Take on Milan and Athekame

They had a pair of options, but not really a logjam, so his exit was a little dubious to begin with, as he had already proven he could hang in Serie A on both ends. Another man would be very helpful in light of Saelemaekers’ injury, plus Chukwueze hasn’t exactly been a world-beater. We’ll see whether they have enough sway to pull it off.