3 players AC Milan should try to sign in January transfer window

Once again, AC Milan has little to no money to spend. The Chinese takeover, which has been agreed upon for months, was delayed until March because of bureaucratic issues.

In the meantime, the Rossoneri are stuck in limbo.

The team itself is not doing so poorly. It's actually in a position to compete for the Champions League. With a competent coach, a prodigious goalkeeper, and a focus on possession-based football, Milan finally has an identity.

But it's far away from contending for titles. There's a clear weakness in midfield, which is one injury away from becoming a liability.

If qualifying for Europe is a serious objective - and it should be - Milan must use the resources it has available to secure another midfielder.

Because of the club's austerity measures, it can only expect to make loan signings.

Nonetheless, there are possibilities.

Here are three players Milan should target in January:

Morgan Schneiderlin (Manchester United)

Morgan Schneiderlin has no future at Manchester United, even if Jose Mourinho insists he doesn't want to sell any of his players or even allow them to leave on loan.

But Milan has nothing to lose here. The Frenchman is clearly out of Mourinho's immediate plans, and at 27 years old, he cannot afford to waste his prime years on the bench. A move is going to happen.

West Brom has reportedly prepared a £20-million (€23.5-million) bid for Schneiderlin, which is close to the initial fee United paid to acquire the midfielder from Southampton in 2015. Because Milan doesn't have that kind of money at the moment, it would have to convince the player it is a more ambitious destination. If the Champions League is the goal, Milan can satisfy Schneiderlin a lot more.

Provided with consistent starts and the belief of a manager, Schneiderlin can recycle possession and give protection to the backline with the best of them. The Rossoneri badly need someone of his ilk.

Should manager Vincenzo Montella elect to play Giacomo Bonaventura on the left wing, he will need a responsible midfielder behind him. Mario Pasalic is promising, but he's easily dispossessed, and it's not even certain if he will stay beyond the season.

In Schneiderlin, Milan would get a senior midfielder to give 18-year-old Manuel Locatelli some security. He's a calming influence who can increase the odds of a clean sheet.

Probability: 20 percent

Milan Badelj (Fiorentina)

An option closer to home is Milan Badelj, an equally gifted player on the ball who gets involved in both the offensive and defensive phases of the pitch.

With a contract that expires in June 2018, Badelj is certain to leave Fiorentina in one of the next two windows. He's reportedly turned down the prospect of a contract extension, seemingly in search of his next career step.

Milan came close to signing the Croatia international in the summer, but instead made a deadline-day move for Mati Fernandez. Badelj's agent, Dejan Joksmiovic, doesn't think Milan can afford to pay the €12-15 million it would require to turn Fiorentina's head.

But it must at least try, even if it has to subsidise the transfer with a player sale.

Though Badelj isn't the most spectacular player, he does the grunt work well. He completes a high percentage of passes and makes timely interceptions. Since he's a reliable presence, Badelj can operate as an anchor in a midfield two and deliver both safe and adventurous passes. His link-up play would add a lot of value to Montella's squad, which could use a deep-lying playmaker.

There's also familiarity between the player and manager, the two previously linking up with La Viola during Montella's time there, potentially sweetening a deal that could prove complicated between two European competitors.

Probability: 40 percent

Leandro Paredes (Roma)

Struggling to break Roma's midfield three, Leandro Paredes is too good to be a squad player. He's firmly behind Radja Nainggolan, Daniele De Rossi, and Kevin Strootman in Luciano Spalletti's pecking order, though niggling injuries did him no favours in the opening months of the season.

Supporters did get a chance to witness Paredes in the Europa League, where he averaged 99.8 passes per match - good for second in the competition. The 22-year-old clearly possesses the vision and the intelligence to run the game from a withdrawn position.

Milan reportedly attempted to sign Paredes toward the end of the summer transfer window, offering to take the player on loan with an option to buy. A similar bid could work in January, considering he's not getting the playing time he deserves under Spalletti.

His biggest strength is his ability to win back possession, and while Milan has done well to retain possession, regaining it is a more difficult task. Paredes would free up the likes of Bonaventura and Suso from playing deeper, and allow energetic midfielders like Juraj Kucka to bomb forward. He could also form a two-man partnership with Locatelli and provide another layer of security to the defence.

Milan has a tendency of leaving big gaps in the middle of the park, and Paredes could clog it up.

Probability: 30 percent