AC Milan unwilling to fork out €20 million to sign Barcelona defender in the summer

After two disappointing seasons at FC Barcelona, Sergino Dest left the club last summer when he signed for AC Milan on a year-long loan deal. But things have not gone according to plans for the USMNT international in Italy.

Indeed, the right-back initially found it impossible to get a look-in into Stefano Pioli’s side and struggled for relevance at San Siro.

The situation with regard to Dest’s game-time has gradually improved of late, though, as he has been seeing slightly more action on the pitch.

Despite that, Dest, so far, has played just 12 times across all competitions for the Rossoneri, accruing a total of just 532 minutes, in which he has failed to score or assist a single goal.

Given his poor returns, Calciomercato is now reporting that AC Milan do not intend to pay the €20 million fee which would have allowed them to sign Dest on a permanent deal from Barcelona in the summer.

That does not necessarily mean that the reigning champions of Italy are completely discarding the option of signing the 22-year-old permanently. But they are unwilling to fork out the €20 million that was agreed upon and could possibly look to negotiate a lower fee.

As far as Barcelona are considered, Dest does not have a place in Xavi Hernandez’s plans. The Catalans are instead looking at a full revamp of their right-back options as they intend to offload the USMNT ace permanently and part ways with Hector Bellerin as well.

There is uncertainty surrounding the future of Sergi Roberto too, even though the veteran star insists that he wants to continue at Camp Nou beyond the summer.

Barça intend to sign a top-quality right-back before the next season starts with names such as Benjamin Pavard of Bayern Munich and Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot on the agenda of the La Liga leaders.

As for Dest, only time will tell whether AC Milan wish to keep him at the club beyond the ongoing campaign and if Barcelona will be open to negotiating a lower fee than the €20 million clause that was agreed upon last summer.