Chelsea: AC Milan boss Filippo Inzaghi aiming to keep midfielder Marco van Ginkel

AC Milan manager Filippo Inzaghi has revealed that he would like to retain the services of Marco van Ginkel as the Chelsea midfielder's temporary spell in Serie A draws towards its conclusion.

Van Ginkel, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament on his full debut for his parent club in a League Cup tie at Swindon in 2013, has been on loan at the San Siro since early September but has seen his progress further stunted by a recurring ankle injury.

Regardless of that, however, the Dutch international has clearly shown enough in his performances over recent weeks to convince the club he is worth persevering with and Inzaghi has set his sights on a renewed deal that would see him remain in Italy.

"Unfortunately he (Van Ginkel) is not our player," he said after guiding his side to a comfortable 3-0 win over Torino on 24 May.

"But he has grown a lot. He has played seven or eight games in a row and we are starting to see a great player. He does really well in training.

"Chelsea have great midfielders and he is in need of playing. My will would be if possible to keep him because he can give us a big hand."

While Milan are evidently keen to keep Van Ginkel, however, the player himself is believed to view a return to Stamford Bridge as his ultimate goal for the future.

"We don't know yet – his future is unclear at the moment," representative Karel Jansen told the media of his client's plans earlier this month.

"He is now playing regularly for Milan, but we still have to discuss next season with Chelsea. I think it will be decided next month or by the start of the transfer window. But there is no pressure.

"The goal for Marco is to return to Chelsea so we will see what happens. It is all dependable on what they want to do."

Premier League champions Chelsea have assembled arguably the strongest central midfield partnership in the division this season with Cesc Fàbregas and Nemanja Matić, while José Mourinho also has Ramires, John Obi Mikel and even young Kurt Zouma to occupy the two midfield slots behind the likes of Eden Hazard, Willian and Diego Costa.

Such a wealth of options would inevitably make it difficult for Van Ginkel to feature with any sort of regularity outside of the domestic cup competitions and he may decide that the opportunity to continue playing regular first-team football is likely to prove more beneficial at this stage of his fledgling career.