Fikayo Tomori is considering an offer from Fulham that could see him leave on deadline day, with Milan making clear they will not register him for the season.
The summer has drifted away from Tomori. He appears to have wanted to stay and compete for a place under Ruben Amorim, but the head coach has signalled that the defender does not figure in his plans, and that stance has now hardened into an exclusion from the squad list.
Luca Bianchin reported the state of play: "Fikayo Tomori has a proposal from Fulham on the table and is considering it. Not easy to close in just a few hours. Milan have no intention of including him in the squad list for the season."
The timing is the obstacle. With only hours left in the window, closing a move of this kind is difficult, and Bianchin frames it as far from straightforward. No fee was disclosed, and there is no indication yet of contract terms or whether the two clubs are close on valuation.
A switch to Fulham would return Tomori to west London, where he spent years at rivals Chelsea before joining Milan. Alvaro Arbeloa is the man in charge at Fulham, and the question over the next few hours is whether the pull of a return to the capital is enough to move the defender.
With Milan already set on leaving him out, the decision now sits largely with Tomori and the clock.