AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has recently compared the club’s on-loan midfielder Mario Pasalic to Croatian mega-star Luka Modric, hinting at a permanent move for the Chelsea midfielder, per Mediaset.
Pasalic, on loan from Chelsea, was purchased by the Blues in the summer of 2014 before being loaned out for three straight seasons to Elche CF in Spain, AS Monaco in France, and AC Milan in Italy, respectively. In his three loan spells so far, Pasalic has made 54 appearances, scoring seven goals. Throughout that time he has made his first two appearances for Croatia’s senior men’s national team as well.
In the eyes of Galliani, Pasalic is a player that Milan are looking to keep permanently after his loan spell expires in six months time.
Pasalic is a player who did well at youth level, but his progress was stalled by injuries. He can come back to being what he was. In Croatia, Pasalic is considered to be on the same level as Luka Modric, who is one of the best midfielders in the world. We had this opportunity, we do have the option to buy and we’ll see what to do next summer.
I Rossoneri seem to be fond of the midfielder, meaning he may not return to west London for pre-season come June.
On the contrary, the Daily Star reported earlier in the week that Chelsea boss Antonio Conte plans on blocking the move from happening because he is a fan of Pasalic.
