Shocking racist abuse forces £40m midfielder to consider Chelsea return

Oli Fisher

Tiemoue Bakayoko could return to Chelsea this summer after becoming unsettled by racist chanting in Italy, a report claims.

Bakayoko was loaned to the Serie A giants at the start of the season with an option to buy inserted for €35m, and struggled at the start of his spell – even being publicly criticised by Gennaro Gattuso.

Since then though he has hit a rich vein of form, and the idea of Milan triggering their €35m option to buy seemed like a formality.

The Frenchman has made no secret of his desire to move to San Siro permanently in recent weeks, but since then things have turned sour.

He and team-mate Franck Kessie were the victims of racist abuse from Lazio fans over their last two games, and The Sun claims that might have taken its toll on the Frenchman.

Lazio supporters smuggled in bananas and directed racist chants towards the former Monaco man and Kessie during their 1-0 Coppa Italia semi-final win over Milan, causing the stadium announcer to ask for the chanting to stop twice.

The Sun report claims that Bakayoko has done a U-turn on the idea of moving to Italy permanently as a result of the shocking abuse, and is now open to moving back to Stamford Bridge, where he still has over four years left on his deal.

 

Get the latest personalised Blues products on our new TEAMtalk Chelsea shop!