Milan see first Nwaneri bid rejected by Arsenal as Nkunku heads for exit

Milan see first Nwaneri bid rejected by Arsenal as Nkunku heads for exit

Milan have had a first offer for Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri turned down, while Christopher Nkunku has now been added to the list of players set to leave before the mercato closes, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

The picture painted by Gazzetta is of a club still working through its plans with two weeks of the window left and the season only just over a week away. That timing has drawn questions about why the outgoing decisions were left this late, given how much still needs to happen on both sides of the market.

On the way out, Nkunku joins a list that Gazzetta reports also includes Yunus Musah, referenced alongside names like Fofana and Odogu, with Ruben Amorim having drawn up the group of players he is willing to move on. The paper frames it as a substantial clear-out rather than a couple of tidy exits.

The bigger concern for the front page is Rafael Leão. Gazzetta writes that he has not convinced Amorim and is now injured, putting his availability for the season opener in doubt. For a side already thin on attacking certainty, losing Leão for the opening fixture would sharpen every question about how ready this squad is.

Not every reading is negative. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is said to have won Amorim over, and despite an expiring contract, Gazzetta reports he will stay. It is a rare piece of settled business in a section of the squad otherwise in flux.

The incoming file centres on Nwaneri, with Gazzetta reporting a first Milan offer that Arsenal have rejected. No figures were attached to the bid or to Arsenal's valuation, so how far apart the two clubs sit is not yet clear. In defence, the paper links Milan with Tiago Gabriel as the name under consideration.

With no fees disclosed and Leão's fitness unresolved, the next move sits with Milan's negotiators and Amorim's read on his own squad.

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