AC Milan will only complete a deal for Atalanta star Josip Ilicic this summer if the conditions are right, according to a report.
There has been a lot of intense speculation over the past couple of weeks suggesting that Ilicic is indeed a concrete target for Milan, as the forward is having a difficult moment with Atalanta due to tense relations with his head coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
The Slovenia international would be an versatile profile for Stefano Pioli’s 4-2-3-1 formation as he can play both out wide and as an attacking midfielder too and there is no doubting his quality, given he has 55 goals and 37 assists in 142 appearances for Atalanta as per Transfermarkt.
According to il Corriere della Sera (via MilanLive), there are some potential hurdles to the deal, the primary one being that Milan and Atalanta are rivals and the Bergamo club would not be happy losing another important player to a direct top four competitor.
Milan meanwhile have applied a policy of rejuvenation and austere spending, and the Ilicic blow is not fully within the parameters of owners Elliott Management as Ilicic is 33 years of age.
Atalanta are asking for a minimum of €10m to sell him, but the paper adds how Milan would be willing to close the deal for only less than €5million due to the player’s age and the tense relations between the attacking midfielder and his coach. The feeling is that Ilicic’s desire will be decisive to move the negotiation.
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