Bournemouth prefer to lose player for free than sell in January – Club’s interest not changing stance

Bournemouth would prefer to lose defender Lloyd Kelly on a free transfer in the summer rather than sell him to AC Milan in the January transfer window.

That’s according to Corriere dello Sport, who say the captain is ‘of great interest’ to the Italian side but a difficult deal for them to get done.

The newspaper explains that Milan’s two main objectives for the winter transfer window are clear, both a defender and a forward will arrive to bolster their squad.

They are the two positions that both need strengthening and will receive greater attention from the management in the coming weeks.

A central defender is desperately needed as the squad has been left thin by injuries and ongoing fitness issues for Simon Kjaer.

Several potential options are being explored and Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly is one of those who is ‘of great interest’.

The problem is that Bournemouth aren’t particularly interested in a deal and don’t want to lose their captain in January. In fact, they would prefer to lose him on a free transfer next summer, when his contract expires than sell him for a fee in the winter window.

Why that is the case isn’t mentioned and seems a little strange from the Cherries on the face of it, but perhaps they value Kelly’s involvement in the squad higher than the likely reduced figure they’d get from Milan.

That could always change but for now it seems there’s no interest in selling Kelly, even if Milan do come calling for him.

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