Chelsea loanee Bakayoko breaks silence on being held at gunpoint: 'They went too far'

AC Milan midfielder and Chelsea loanee Tiemoue Bakayoko is in news after being held at gunpoint by Italian police in what was a case of mistaken identity. The French player was stopped and searched by police before realising their mistake. The footage which has surfaced online shows one of the police personnel telling his colleague that the person in the episode is not a suspect but in fact a player who represents the Serie A giants. It is believed that the Tiemoue Bakayoko gunpoint incident took place at the beginning of July but the video of the episode has surfaced only recently.

Tiemoue Bakayoko gunpoint incident: AC Milan midfielder unhappy with police handling the issue

The 27-year-old has now spoken about the police incident and stated that he is not upset with the error, but wasn't happy with the way the police handle the issue. The midfielder said, "Authorities stated it was a mistake and they realised only in real-time. Being wrong is human, no problem with that, but the way they used those has been a problem for me. I believe they went too far. The problem is not the error but the methodology used. I found the weapon within a metre of me and the passenger. They clearly put us in danger regardless of the reasons that led to doing this."

According to The MARCA report, Milan police while defending their actions over the Tiemoue Bakayoko police incident said, "It should be noted that the search occurred in an operational context that justified the adoption of the highest security measures. Also as a function of self-protection, [it] was carried out in a manner absolutely consistent with the type of alarm in progress. Once the person had been identified and [it had been] established that he was not involved, the service was resumed without any kind of remark from the person concerned."

Tiemoue Bakayoko career

Tiemoue Bakayoko's career has only gone downwards after signing for Chelsea from Monaco in 2017.  The 27-year-old has played for Rennes (2013-14), Monaco (2014-15 to 2016-17, 2019-20), Chelsea (2017-18), Napoli and AC Milan (2018-19, 2021-22 to present). The defensive midfielder has been loaned by Chelsea to AC Milan last summer and did not have a great time at San Siro. The former Monaco player played 18 matches for the Italian champions across all competitions last season but failed to score or assist even a single goal. Chelsea would look to end his loan moves and try to get him off the club's wage book.