Arsenal are expecting AC Milan to return for Jakub Kiwior in the summer, after knocking back the Serie A club in the January transfer window.

Jakub Kiwior was linked with a move away from Arsenal in the winter, with AC Milan among the clubs reportedly interested in him.

Whilst nothing came of their interest in January, with Arsenal making it clear he wasn’t for sale, the Evening Standard report that Milan are set to target Kiwior again in the summer.

Milan and other Italian teams are expected to be in the mix, looking to either loan or buy Kiwior if he’s available.

James Benge reported for CBS Sports at the end of December that sources had claimed it was extremely unlikely Arsenal would seriously consider interest from AC Milan in the signing of Kiwior in January.

The Evening Standard had also written that Arsenal were expected to rebuff approaches for Kiwior in January, with no plans to let the defender go in the winter window.

Kiwior’s agent, Paweł Ziemończyk, then told Polish television he didn’t expect a January move.

“Kuba (Jakub Kiwior) is an Arsenal player,” Zimończyk said.

“There are no signals that they want to get rid of him, and I don’t think anything will happen in the winter window.”

The problem at the time was that Arsenal were low on defenders, which remains the case.

With Oleksandr Zinchenko picking up a calf injury against Liverpool at the weekend, Arsenal could well start Kiwior against West Ham United at the weekend, and Takehiro Tomiyasu is the only serious alternative.

Tomiyasu has had plenty of injury problems of his own, and Arsenal are also pretty short at centre-back, so Kiwior is likely to play quite a few games before the end of the season.

If the Gunners then make a signing or two in the summer transfer window, perhaps they’ll be more amenable to offers from Italy for Kiwior.