AC Milan’s attempts to sign Leon Goretzka are being made more difficult by the huge demands, according to a report.
As the summer approaches, rumours surrounding Goretzka continue to grow. The German midfielder’s contract with Bayern Munich expires and he has already announced he will not renew his deal, so he will leave on a free.
At 31, Goretzka is keen to secure the last major contract of his career and play at a high level. According to Calciomercato.com, Inter and Milan have already approached him, but Arsenal are among the teams linked too.
Not a ‘free transfer’
When going for players on a Bosman, you have to take into account that the asking prices – both for wages and signing bonuses – are higher in the absence of a transfer fee. This is also the case with Goretzka, who currently earns €7m at Bayern Munich and wants the same from his next club.
To the huge salary, we must add a significant signing bonus, between €8-10m. This would therefore be a significant deal, especially for the budgets of Italian teams. Milan are willing to try, but not at those prices, especially given their stance on commissions.
It will be very difficult to see the player arrive at Milanello if those are the figures, even if the directors would like to give Allegri another international-level player to pair with Luka Modric, or to help replace him if he leaves.
Inter directors Piero Ausilio and Dario Baccin were at the New Balance Arena to watch the match between Atalanta and Bayern Munich. They weren’t there only for Goretzka, partly because the German only came on at the end, but will have kept an eye on him.
As Bild report, Arsenal did not make an offer in January for Goretzka despite reports, but have made it clear that they are very interested. The player for his part would love a move to the Premier League and Arsenal would have no problem paying a salary of €7m plus the signing-on fee.
I don’t see him coming to Italy
Sounds like he’ll go anywhere that pays him. I suspect, at his age the PL is out. The Serie A retirement program may suit him.
He’s 31 not 40. He’s still very much in his physical prime.
For slow, buildup football he’ll be ok. He’ll want a 4 year contract so you want him until his 35? Yes, he’ll fit into Italian football but not the PL or La Liga at least with a top team .
You kidding me?! He’ll end up at Arsenal or Utd easily.
Not sure why we wouldn’t sign him at 7-8M and a 10-15M signing bonus. A player of similar calibre under contract would cost at least 60M plus salary. If the club pays him 8M per year (calculated as 16M gross), for say four years, and gives him a 15M signing bonus, that would be 79M total over four years. If the club were to buy such a player for 60M and pay him say 4M per year (8M gross) for five years (assuming he’s younger), that’s 100M over five years. Overall the club is spending 21M less on Goretzka, and on a per annum basis it’s 250K less. For a midfielder combining his quality and experience, it’s a no-brainer for me, given how well Modric and Rabiot have turned out. But most likely they will spend 30M on some unknown who will most likely head straight to the bench.
Gotta correct myself here. If the reported signing bonus high is 10M (I thought it was 15M), then we’re spending 26M less on Goretzka overall, and 1.5M less per year, than on the hypothetical younger similar quality purchase.
The media and especially SM have proven to have a pretty poor grasp of what Milan’s financial situation and ability really is. I don’t think we should believe anything we read from this site. Literally 9/10 articles they reposed are dead wrong with the other 10% being half truths. Other news aggregators like Football Italia vets their sources better although they are still batting less than 50%.
What you say is true and financially sound from my understanding. I also know clubs like Milan are keenly aware of the revenue that big signings create through jersey sales and other marketing opportunities. If Milan doesn’t sign him it’s because he’s not a tactical fit (management begins to takes more input from Allegri) or the business of the deal doesn’t add up, ie the player won’t recoup the outlay which is a negative on the balance sheet.