The calendar has flipped to August and after another mostly quiet week there appear to be some things brewing that could come to a close by the end of this upcoming week. With the league starting in a few weeks, and a Coppa Italia match in just 2 weeks, this will be the second to last Monday Milan Musings Summertime Edition as we’ll pivot to our season preview. So let’s get to it!
Current News
The first thing to cover is the 9-0 win against Perth Glory. A mighty win against the team who finished…*checks notes*…dead last in the A-League…*checks notes again*…the 25th best league in the world. So…yeah.
I’m not going to say much on this. Sure, it was kinda fun to see so many goals, and the youngling’s – Christian Comotto – penenka was fun, but this game didn’t really provide us much insight into anything. Truth be told, I’m wondering why it was scheduled. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for Australia, just still. Weird.
Milan should get a bit better of a test for the next couple of friendlies vs Leeds United and then Chelsea (more below in the next section).
Probably the more exciting news is that Milan appear to be on the cusp of signing a RB. Who? Well, it appears the 20 year old Swiss international Zachary Athekame. I don’t know much about him but for a rumored fee of around €9M, and the limited commentary I’ve read on him, this appears to be a move for a promising young player who can contribute and maybe be a mainstay in the lineup by season’s end (maybe even by January if things pan out). I’ll have more on the move next week if it does come to fruition, including some insights as to the type of player we can expect.
The other news this past week, especially today, is that Milan and Club Brugge might indeed be close on a deal for Ardon Jashari. It’s been a little unclear if Milan upped their offer, as I have seen a reported offer of €33.5M plus add-ons, slightly up from the reported final offer of €33 plus add-ons. The sticking point appears to be if the fee will be paid in 4 installments or 5. And really, if Milan wants him than why is this a sticking point? If the installments are of equal size, is €8.25M really that different than €6.6M? Just complete the move and get him in training.
Training News
Not much to report here as Allegri gave the team 3 (maybe 4) days off after the Asian tour, so I’m guessing they’ll resume tomorrow. What is important is that the team is being whittled down with Colombo moving to Genoa as I mentioned last week. There’s some rumors of Bennacer and maybe Adli moving but nothing appears super concrete. Either way, smaller team and more action for the guys remaining. So good all around.
Here’s the remaining preseason schedule for your convenience:
– August 9: Leeds United v Milan – 10am EST, Dublin, Ireland
– August 10: Chelsea v Milan – 10am EST, Stamford Bridge, London
The games on back-to-back days likely means whoever you see play on Saturday won’t play on Sunday. These are the last friendlies scheduled until the first official game of the season – the Coppa Italia tie vs Bari on August 17th at the San Siro. The league will kick off a week later with Cremonese also visiting the San Siro (game is on August 23rd).
Summer Signings/Transfer Activity
Signings
– DM SAMUELE RICCI (Torino, €23M + €2M add-ons) – Signed until June 30, 2029 (€2M + bonuses per year)
– CM LUKA MODRIĆ (Free, last at Real Madrid) – Signed until June 30, 2026, option for 2027 (€3.5M per year)
– GK PIETRO TERRACCIANO (Fiorentina, free) – Signed until June 30, 2026, option for 2027 (~€1M per year)
– LB PERVIS ESTUPIÑÁN (Brighton, €17M + €2M add-ons) – Length of contract and wage not disclosed as of this writing
Departures
– RB/CB PIERRE KALULU – Juventus, €14.3M
– CB MARCO PELLEGRINO – Boca Juniors, €3.5M
– MF TIJJANI REIJNDERS – Manchester City, €55M plus €10M easy add-ons, plus €5M more difficult add-ons
– CF FRANCESCO CAMARDA – Lecce, Loan with €3M buy option, €4M buy back clause
– LB THEO HERNÁNDEZ – Al Hilal, €25M
– GK MARCO SPORTIELLO – Atalanta, €1M
– CM TOMASSO POBEGA – Bologna, Loan with obligation, €7M
– RB EMERSON ROYAL – Flamengo, €9M
– GK DEVIS VÁSQUEZ – Roma, Free
– CF LORENZO COLOMBO – Genoa, Loan with option (obligation to buy for €10M if Genoa stay in Serie A)
Total Outgoing: €40M/possible €44M
Total Incoming: €114.8M/possible €129.8M
Total Overall: +€74.8M
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:
RB ZACHARY ATHEKAME As alluded to above, this deal crept up quickly and all signs are that it’ll be completed by the end of the week. Pretty cheap, too!
MF ARDON JASHARI Apparently…as mentioned above, this move is more hung up on the number of payments than the actual fee, as Milan want to break it up into 5 payments and Club Brugge want it completed in 4. Is that really the case?…Mmmm…
*Previously mentioned: One more thing: there’s been some confusion (including from me) about what type of player he is and what he will bring. I did read up and he appears to be a sturdy, high work rate midfielder with good ball carrying and vision. The most common comparisons I saw were to Barella and Declan Rice. Click here for a nice little summary.
CF DUŠAN VLAHOVIĆ A little more chatter here than the week before. Rumors that Vlahović would be willing to come down the €7M-ish range plus bonuses per year, which I think makes this doable. It’s the fee where I think this gets hung up. Unless it’s a cut rate deal or Vlahović can work a buy-out, I still don’t see this happening but the odds shoot WAY up if the Jashari move doesn’t materialize.
CF VICTOR BONIFACE As long as Milan need a striker this is staying on the list.
RB GUÉLA DOUÉ With the Athekame deal expected to close by week’s end, this rumor is as good as dead.
Wrap Up
We’re getting closer…
Forza Milan
gillis