Bakayoko 'turns down new Chelsea contract as he wants return to AC Milan'

Tiemoue Bakayoko has rejected a new contract at Chelsea as he wants to return to AC Milan this summer, according to reports.

The 27-year-old midfielder has not played for the Blues  since the 2017-18 season and has spent the last three years on loan at the Rossoneri, Monaco and, most recently, Napoli.

Bakayoko's contract at Stamford Bridge expires at the end of the 2021-22 season having moved to Chelsea from Monaco for £35million in the summer of 2017.

But according to Sky Sport Italia, the midfielder has turned down a new deal by the Blues as he wants to move back to Milan, who have just qualified for the Champions League.

Bakayoko spent the 2018-19 season at the San Siro after falling out of favour with Chelsea, making 42 appearances in all competitions in the campaign but the Rossoneri chose not to make the deal permanent for £30million.

After spending the following term on loan at former club Monaco, he returned to Serie A with Napoli last season and featured in all but six of the Partenopei's Serie A matches.

The midfielder's agent confirmed that Milan is an option for the player this summer, with Stefano Pioli's Rossoneri looking to address the central midfield issue in the current transfer window.

Representative Marco Busiello told Milannews.it: 'We had a meeting a few weeks ago with Milan's managers who are looking for a player in that position. This is a particular market, in which there is a need to sell before buying.

Milan want to do something in that role. Baka left a good memory and he has a good memory of Milan. The Rossoneri have to do something in that role, so we had some normal small talk that is done in these situations.'

Bakayoko, however, is set to report for pre-season duty with Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea next week to cover for the sheer amount of Blues players currently at Euro 2020.

The west Londoners saw 16 of their players reach the knockout stages, including midfielders Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount and N'Golo Kante all feature in the round of 16 games, meaning they will be late back to their Cobham base.

This means that loanees Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Bakayoko are set take part in Chelsea's pre-season preparations which start on Monday while the first-team stars are away.