Despite being one of the leaders of this AC Milan squad, it appears that Mike Maignan is approaching a crossroads this summer regarding his future.
Calciomercato.com begin a report on Maignan by recalling that he missed Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Juventus due to yet another muscle problem. While his performances this season have been the subject of debate, what cannot be denied is that French goalkeeper tends to miss crucial periods each season.
There is no doubting that Maignan has been an added value for long stretches of his time at Milan, but a lot of things will change at the club this summer and there is a very important decision regarding his future that must be made quickly.
He has a contract expiring on 30 June 2026 and, consequently, to avoid the mistakes already made in the past with players like Calhanoglu, Donnarumma and Kessie, the decision arrives: renew in good time or a sale must be considered.
The management have been in talks with Maignan’s entourage for several weeks and their stance was clear: today he is in ninth place in the squad in terms of highest salary, but he feels like a top international player at the level of Rafael Leao (who is the highest paid) and wants a similar amount to renew.
This would mean around €7m net per season including bonuses, which is a request that at the moment Milan do not seem willing to agree to and that places Mike’s renewal as being among the most uncertain.
There is another evaluation that Geoffrey Moncada, Antonio D’Ottavio, Giogio Furlani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are taking into consideration and it is, in part at least, also linked to the physical problems suffered by the French goalkeeper.
How much is Maignan worth today? And how much market would he have in the event of non-renewal? Certainly the figures that circulated two years ago after the Scudetto win – when there was talk of €100m – no longer applies today.
While there is no active need to sell, a Tonali-esque exit cannot be ruled out if huge bids come in. However, there are other players such as Theo Hernandez who have more demand and more market value.
It is a crossroads that Milan will soon find themselves having to face, knowing that if they can cash in on Maignan for the right price – presuming a renewal is nearly impossible – it could fund the entire mercato.
He is no where near the player who commands the money he wants. Has been a middle of the road keeper for Milan longer than he has been great.
Sell and move on.
I fully agree. As a shot stopper he’s no better than the likes of Dida, Abbiati and Donnarumma. He’s the best of the lot with his feet, but his injury history undermines that asset. He’s also let in some questionable near post goals. He’s been a good GK, but we can find the same for half the cost in someone else.
I like Mike but if we have to sell someone that would be him, Gregorio from Monza would be available for 15-20 mil, look at Inter they sold Onana for big money and still won the league and there are some very good goalkeepers in Seria A.
That Di Gregorio price is surely outdated. There are a number of teams sniffing around him, including some from the PL. I think his starting price will be around 25M now. Still worth it though, but not much higher.
The goalkeeper position in general has had too many traits that have become a “lost art”. Protecting the short post,for example is one of them along with being stuck on the line on crosses. Maignan is still good. But,not $7 million good. As far as the muscle problems,let’s just think about all the muscle injuries we have encountered at Milanello…..stating with Pato.I know it is a long way back,but think about it…. Somebody,somewhere…is f@$%ing up.
Unfortunately it is time to sell. I like the Monza keeper and wouldn’t mind him taking over.
Juve got him already I believe
Donarumma asked for fair pay, at the time, he was in the top 5 goalies on the planet.
Management said no, signed this guy. We called Gigi a mercenary. Interestingly, Donarumma won Player of the tournament the summer he left Milan. Was crucial at the Euros with Italy. His resulting wage was reflective of his value at the time. 4th best keeper in the world.
Mike hasn’t won anything for France. Was never the best goalkeeper in Europe. He did well one season, then was injured last season at crucial moments. His performances we still excellent. This year, the trend of being injured continued, although not out as long, his performances tailspinned.
7 million euros for a great goalkeeper is a fair, excellent price for the club, even when injured often, for a player of his talent. Gigi earns 12 million. The question is, do AC Milan need a 7 million euro goalkeeper? A good goalkeeper, who is reliable, makes very few mistakes and stays healthy, with an excellent defense would provide more value. We need to look at our Scudetto team. Never replaced Romagnoli and we have to substitute Kjaer. Say we wash out Romagnoli with Gabbia, we still need an excellent central defender and a deputy to Theo, plus a striker and a complete midfielder, despit spending over 100 million euros last summer in player acquisitions.
GK, CB, LB2, CM, STR
10 plus 22 fron CDK and Salad, plus 40 to 50 million from Mike sale. Let’s say we sign a deputy to Theo on a free. We are looking at 82 million euros for 4 players. 20.5 million euros each on average. Say the club wants to pony up 35 million as they usually do. What can 29 million euros really get you on today’s market?
Now you see why selling CDK was idiotic. A player that requires two years to adapt, minimum will cost 35 million. One that can contribute to surpass Inter or our current options? Good luck with those figures. We had to keep our team together 3 years ago. Add one good player that could develop with teammates each the following summers.
We been adding by diluting and subtraction, which lead to a backstep in our squad quality since we won, by Inter handing us a title.
We technically need to replace Giroud and Ibra to even be close to the forward department we had that year, which wasn’t better than Inter today.
Leads to this, Maignan has to go, Bennacer as well. We can’t have injury liabilities and players that are on a downspin.