AC Milan star Theo Hernandez has rejected approaches from Manchester City and Chelsea to continue his career at San Siro. Manchester City are chasing Hernandez since the last summer as a replacement for Benjamin Mendy and Chelsea recently linked with the player after Ben Chilwell was ruled out of the entire season.
The 24-year-old French international is one of the best attacking-minded left-backs in the world and has a valuation of £50 million. Hernandez still has two and half years remaining on his contract at San Siro but Milan have offered him a big pay rise to convenience him to extend his contract till 2026-27.
The Rossoneri are mounting a title challenge this season with just a point separating them from the Serie A leaders Inter Milan. Last season Milan finished in the 2nd position and they continue their journey to become Italian heavyweights once again this season.
The Frenchman arrived at Milan from Real Madrid for a transfer fee of just £17 million in 2019 and scored 6 league goals that year. Theo Hernandez was the best player for them last season as he scored 7 goals and assisted 5 more in just 33 league matches. This season he has improved further and has scored 4 goals and assisted 5 in 17 league matches so far.
Chelsea And Manchester City To Give Up on Theo Hernandez?
Chelsea lost star left-back Ben Chilwell suffered a horrific knee injury in November and since then he has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Rotational option Marcos Alonso is doing well when going forward but his contribution to defence is a worrying sign for manager Thomas Tuchel. The Blues management is looking for a new left-back option this month and had identified Theo Hernandez and Lucas Digne.
But Chelsea hesitated to pay a transfer fee of £30 million for Digne, who eventually joined Aston Villa two days ago. But according to a report from Calciomercato, Theo Hernandez has rejected an approach from the Blues and looking to extend his AC Milan stay. It has been reported that club director Pablo Maldini personally met Theo Hernandez and convinced him to stay at San Siro. Maldini, the best-ever left-back, was the one who convinced the player to AC Milan over Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City in 2019.
Manchester City broke the World Record fee for defenders in 2017 to sign left-back Benjamin Mendy. But the player struggles with form and fitness at Etihad and has been suspended by the club for almost a year due to his ongoing trial of 7 rape charges and 1 sexual assault. He is currently on house arrest and his trial begins in June 2022. The Citizens have identified Theo Hernandez for his replacement but now will turn their attention to the targets.