Bakayoko’s AC Milan future in serious doubt after Gattuso bust-up

Tiemoue Bakayoko’s time at AC Milan has come a full circle. He started off horrendously prompting manager Gennaro Gattuso to talk about his “defects” in public. Then there was the revival phase, with Bakayoko eventually becoming almost untouchable and often being the key reason for the team’s success. Now, the Chelsea loanee finds himself in troubled waters once again.

It has only been a few days since Bakayoko arrived late for training and got the whole team punished. Turns out, that was just a prelude. Today the 24-year-old has only gone and lobbed an insult at Gattuso in the middle of the game, in full sight of the TV cameras. To be more specific, Bakayoko appears to tell his manager to, “[FUN] off”.

Basically, the story apparently goes something like this. Gattuso asked Bakayoko to enter the field due to an injury to Lucas Biglia in the 26th minute, but the midfielder was not ready. That led to an argument between the two, which led to the Chelsea loanee swearing at his manager. Eventually, Gattuso ended up subbing on Jose Mauri instead of Bakayoko.

Needless to say this is not a good look for Bakayoko or his chances of staying at AC Milan, even if the Rossoneri finish fourth, which was a minimum requirement for them to exercise the buy-option. As if the training debacle was not enough, the defiance and disrespect that Bakayoko has just shown is unlikely to earn him a third chance from Gattuso — though Gattuso himself is on thin ice, so anything could yet happen.

Where this leaves Bakayoko and Chelsea is an even more complicated question, but perhaps one we don’t have to deal with right away.