Juventus, Milan, Roma Poked Around Genoa Defender | OneFootball

Koni de Winter stayed put at Genoa in January, but it wasn’t because of a lack of suitors, as Milan, Roma, and Juventus all touched base for him at some point. After a year of uncertainty, the Grifone had an ownership change in recent months. They no longer needed to sell for financial reasons as they have done routinely.

Per Tuttomercatoweb’s Mirko Di Natale, the Bianconeri took a hard look at the Belgian defender late. They re-opened their search after Pierre Kalulu suffered a thigh injury. They inquired before attempting to sign Kevin Danso from Lens.

Juventus moved on because Genoa asked for €25M for De Winter, which likely scared off Roma too, while Milan would have splurged only after partying ways with one of their own, especially Fikayo Tomori, who was in demand but opted to stay.

The Giallorossi eventually grabbed Victor Nelsson from Galatasaray on loan. Instead, the Old Lady signed Lloyd Kelly from Newcastle United on loan with an obligation to buy for €17.5M plus add-ons.

Our Take on Juventus, Roma, Milan, and De Winter

He’s not been super-duper this season, as a thigh injury affected him, but he’s continuing to ascend. The Bianconeri were too quick to sell him in the past. He’s fairly similar to Kalulu and would have been a more intriguing signing than Kelly, but he was pricier, perhaps there was no wriggle room on the formula, and their front office preferred somebody more experienced, which was somewhat understandable. Plus, Genoa’s MO is different from the past.