Brescia president Massimo Cellino has confirmed that he received some big offers for Sandro Tonali, but the player always wanted AC Milan.
After an intense last few days of negotiations, several major sources reported on Sunday night that Tonali to Milan is now a done deal, with the Rossoneri having found an agreement with both the player and his club.
It is being widely regarded as a major coup for Milan, who beat competition from rivals Inter with Tonali believed to have agreed personal terms with the Nerazzurri.
Cellino spoke to Top Calcio 24 and offered some important background on the saga surrounding Tonali, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews.
“Maldini conducted an operation at the right time with the right emotion, with a real value. The player will have a great growth in a club that has great professionalism and an excellent coach,” he said.
“I appreciate Milan because they have given value to the player’s worth, he made an important choice, it is a good investment.”
He then went on to comment more specifically about why Milan are such an attractive prospect, confirming that offers came in from two of Europe’s biggest clubs.
“Milan are not buying him to resell, they buy to rebuild. They are doing something that many clubs say but no one does, investing in important young players. This is Maldini’s policy, it is a courageous but ten-year policy, not for the season ticket campaign.”
The figures being circulated are a €10m loan fee plus €15m option to buy and €10m in bonuses, amounts that Tonali confirmed.
“These are the correct figures, in January I had an offer of 65 million from Barcelona, no later than ten days ago we received an offer of ten million more from Manchester United, but the player was determined to go to Milan.”
