With today being June 30th and the Club World Cup still going, it’s kind of hard to believe that Allegri’s men (still feels weird that he’s back) report to Milanello July 7th, one week from today. June 30th also signals the end of contract year where applicable so any free transfers can start happening, although often times those deals are worked out even before the end of the contract.
Anyway, despite all of this and the general lack of news surrounding Milan, let’s chat about a few things and touch on the rumor mill. For those of you who are on top of things, this will be somewhat redundant, but for those who are not then I at least want to provide some rundown of what’s happening and/or circulating around the club.
Current News
There’s a couple of big items mentioned last week that look to be happening but nothing official as of yet. The first is Theo Hernández apparently agreed to a move to Al Hilal in the Saudi league. The amount Milan will be getting is rumored to be between €25M-€30M. This is actually a solid piece of business if they can pull it off considering Theo has 1 year left on his contract. It should be noted that Theo is reportedly going to make €25M a season – net – and that’s got to be a hard deal to turn down even if he has to go there to get it. I know I’ll be looking to see if this actually comes to fruition but all signs are pointing that way.
If (when?) this Theo moves happens, the next question is does Milan look internally or externally for his replacement? With all the departures (covered last week), the only fullbacks on the first team are Jiménez, Royal, Terracciano, and Bartesaghi, with Jiménez and Terracciano able to play both sides. I really like Bartesaghi and want to see him given the opportunity to claim the LB role but I’m not sure Gerry & Co. will stand pat since the overall quality and depth for the position is unimpressive especially if the Royal rumors are true of him being deemed surplus (god I hope so!). With this in mind, there is a new entry in the rumor mill below that seems to be linked to this Theo move.
The other piece of on-the-verge-of-happening news is Milan has agreed to a €23M plus €2M in add-ons for DM Samuele Ricci from Torino. Apparently the physical should be happening by the end of this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday. If so, expect an official announcement by week’s end at the latest. As for the player himself, I’ll provide a little more background once he signs but he doesn’t appear to be the DM I was hoping for, with progressive carries and passing being his main attributes. Milan need a better DM, and maybe Fofana can take the leap in quality if it has to be him but I’m not sure Ricci is the Van Bommel teeth we are all hoping for in the double-pivot. Maybe Bondo can be that or they’re going to have to bring in another guy to do it, although that seems unlikely this summer.
The other bit of transfer news from last week was it appeared Musah was on his way to Napoli but that has since cooled. There are some additional rumors that a couple of EPL teams might be interested for around the same price (€25M) as the Napoli rumor. It would be a good piece of business but we’ll have to wait and see what happens here.
Milan said goodbye this week to all the players brought in on loan this past season, formally ending any speculation that any might return. Tammy Abraham appears to be going to Besiktas for around €20M and yes, I still think it’s dumb Milan didn’t trade Saelemaekers for him. A big 27 year old #9 who’s been decently productive in Serie A for €20M? Moronic move considering there’s only 1 striker on the roster at the moment with Milan saying goodbye to Jović (they had a farewell from him too) and Camarda being loaned to Lecce. I expect some striker transfer rumors to kick up in the next week or so.
One of the farewells that bummed me out was Florenzi. He was making too much and injuries really hurt his time with the club but he was a very useful player when available and a wonderful presence in the locker room. I wondered if they might bring him back on a team-friendly deal but nothing appears to be in the works although I did read somewhere that a post-playing career job could be waiting for him. Either way, I think he would be a great presence to have around the club, god knows they need that.
That’s about it for this section. The post next week should have a little more to it with the start of the preseason and maybe even some official announcements!
Summer Signings
Still nada!…but one might be close!
Rumor Mill
Some names with a sentence or two on each. Listed in order by the completely objective and scientific method of my loosely informed opinion of most likely to arrive:
DM SAMUELE RICCI Just about a done deal. Young (23), Italian, defensive midfielder. Reported transfer fee of €23M plus €2M add-ons. Should be a good addition. Will have a little more to say about him once he signs.
CM LUKA MODRIĆ Things have gone quiet on this but that’s not too surprising. He’s currently with Real Madrid in America trying to win the Club World Cup. Once that’s done I’m sure this deal will get done. Leão better give him the #10 jersey…
DM GRANIT XHAKA I was reading that maybe this deal is cooling off. Not sure what to make of that but he would still be a solid addition to the club. A bit more of that ball winner with the ability to kick start the offense after winning back possession. Could be a better fit than Ricci if the 4-2-3-1 is still the main formation.
MF ARDON JASHARI Milan had reportedly offered Club Brugge €27M plus €5M in add-ons, well short of the €40M the club is rumored to be asking for him. So I didn’t add him into last week’s post because nothing seemed serious (and it’s Club Brugge…remember CDK). But Milan may have offered up to €35M including add-ons AND the player is rumored to have told Club Brugge that he wants to move to Milan. So…now what?
More of that CAM me and a few others really want, and a good player to have around and learn from Modrić, the deal could be really good (but not cheap!…CAMs never are!). Let’s see how this upcoming week goes…
LB MAXIM DE CUYPER As alluded to in the editorial above, I had seen some rumors of Milan targeting this kid if Theo left and that only picked up with the reporting that the Theo-to-Al-Hilal was done. Young still at 24 years old and also a Club Brugge player like Jashari, he’s more a like-for-like replacement for Theo than a Bartesaghi would be. Not sure if Milan can pry 2 players from the difficult to deal with Club Brugge though…
CF ALEKSANDAR MITROVIĆ Nothing new to add to this since last week but with Luka Jović officially gone now, I guess we need to pay attention to any striker rumor. As for Mitrović, I guess as a 3rd striker for insurance? Clearly they can’t spend much on him, or they shouldn’t. He’s not an upgrade and Milan does still need someone to challenge Giménez and also eat up minutes with Camarda off on loan (as he should, kid needs to play as much as he can).
CF DUŠAN VLAHOVIĆ Not sure what to believe here. I read this week that he turned down a move to Al Hilal (not too surprising), but he also isn’t keen on extending his contract with Juventus, a stalemate that seems to be heading towards him running out his contract. I don’t think there’s much here…yet. Could turn into a full-blown disaster between the club and player. Or it could be nothing.
Wrap Up
Ok, just a little rundown of the summer madness. Expect things to pick up towards the end of the week and next as training begins. I think Milan are still likely to make another 2 or 3 moves besides Ricci and Modrić since more outgoing moves are on the horizon for the likes of Adli, Pobega, and Bennacer. If others go, like Tomori or Thiaw or even Musah, then that 2 or 3 could turn into 3 or 4 more moves. So stay tuned.
Forza Milan
gillis