CorSera: Salary demands, Pioli’s exit and Bayern could lead to Theo’s exit – the situation

By Oliver Fisher -

There continues to be a lot of speculation regarding the future of Theo Hernandez, and a report has claimed that Bayern Munich’s interest is something to be worried about.

According to this morning’s edition of Corriere della Sera (via Radio Rossonera), Theo has been in the sights of Bayern Munich for some time and the talks over a renewal with Milan do not indicate any particular updates.

The segment on the Frenchman reads: ‘Milan must resolve the Theo case’. The full-back is very important to how the Rossoneri play regardless of who is the head coach, and he is one of the leaders of the dressing room.

However, the paths of Milan and Theo could part ways, because Bayern Munich is looming over him and the contacts with the entourage regarding a contract extension are yet to lead to major news at the moment.

The former Real Madrid man’s contract expires in 2026 and the salary demands are very high: Theo would like €8m net per season to extend his deal, which would make him by far the top earner in the squad.

The paper specifically lists the reasons that a farewell might become a reality: ‘The request for 8 million, the interest of Bayern Munich and the feeling of having arrived at the end of a cycle with Pioli’s farewell have effectively removed the white smoke so far.

‘The impression is that if the Bavarians put an irrefutable offer on the table, Tonali style (80 million), they would part ways’.

Tags AC Milan Theo Hernandez

29 Comments

  1. Just renew to him already…. Many players already left so less weight on the wages overall, plus we can always sell Maignan.

  2. Our world class players who want to win because they’re at the best moment of their career will leave at some point. We have no other ambition than sustainability. Mike or Théo probably don’t care about the budget, they are world class players, they want to win and can also earn more at the same time. So as many said last summer, when we should have invested in raising the salary cap and looking for established players, we’re starting again with a new project of developing young players, the same we had before winning a Scudetto.

    1. This is how we lost Donnarumma, Calhanoglu and Kessié. The blame has to be equally shared between Maldini and the ownership. Maybe he was foolishly convinced that the salary cap would improve with better results. No it’s not. Our world class players will not wait ten years until we have a stadium generating revenues to be competitive like we were two years ago. We missed that window and now it’s sustainability and competing for UCL appearance.

  3. These last couple of years media are portraiting our players who want higher wages as bad guys and our management the victims of their blackmail. When in reality they’re just stingy.

    If Inter with their accounts in shambles are able to offer 10 millions max to their stars (even now with Oaktree at helm), then we surely can give them 8 (bonuses included).

    1. And fans fall to this media propaganda, screaming to sell these greedy bad players who want more than we can give. And that’s music to Gerry’s ears. Good job everybody, well played.

    2. Inter are not able to offer 10M€ to their stars as it was written months ago that Lautaro asks for 10M€ and so far there is no signature on the contract.

      1. “The Argentinian striker’s entourage have requested a salary that’s out of reach for the Nerazzurri considering their current situation, which allows them to pay a maximum of €10m net per season, including bonuses.”

        From football-italia.net

    3. We don’t know yet if OakTree imposes a cap or not. Lautaro asking 12mil will tell us a lot. But also in Italy you can’t pay 10mil to a player without incurring debt because the profitability of the league is jut not there.

      Unless OakTree sell, Inter will likely end up with salary caps as well.

      1. “New Inter owners have informed Simone Inzaghi that the wage bill for the 2024-25 campaign will remain unaltered, while the coach will soon return to the club headquarters to sign a contract extension”

        From football-italia.net

  4. 8m net would make him the second highest earner in Serie A.

    I can’t say he’s not worth that, because he probably is in a market that includes PSG and the Premier League, but it’s way more than anyone else at Milan earns.

    I suspect he’s going to leave as he knows he can earn good money elsewhere. The time for Milan to sign him to a longer deal was when he signed his last extension on below market rate – sadly, that lack of foresight means we only have two years left now and any sizeable sale is this summer or never.

    If they do sell, I just hope the scouting department has the succession plan in place like we had with Maignan replacing Donnarumma. I have my doubts though.

  5. I’d like to renew but I’m not sure if Theo would want to
    -a- We wouldn’t be able to give him the salary that he wants without having everybody else ask for the same.
    -b- Milan will go another rebuild process this year (4 starters + coach), and for his ambition this is the right year to leave.

    Frankly as far as I’m concerned, he’s already sold. This is not an impulse decision and it’s very likely all negotiations have started months ago (Bayern, Real or other club). Probably will be closed before the

    1. Nobody is more irreplaceable than theo so if anything he should be the one earning the most in this team. He has pretty much played every match since he joined us and is maybe the best in his position in the entire world and if not then at east a top 3.

      1. I understand what you’re saying, and on his good day yes Theo is magical at least to me.

        That said, thinking with a cool mind, Theo is not perfect. He has gaps in his defensive skillset, at times he is not concentrated and doesn’t mark properly. I’m willing to see past it, like I used to do it for Donnarumma, but those problems are there.

        Furthermore, in Serie A, coaches know him well and restrict his offensive output by defending differently (nowadays you rarely see a midfielder or striker charge him and get Theo to dribble and use the gap that the opponent left behind him to start a counter-attack or get a superiority in that area)

        So while I think that in offense he’s the best, I don’t think he’s irreplaceable. And frankly talking, this past year he was not playing at his best for long periods of time.

        If you don’t want to replace Theo because you’re not confident that the management can spend wisely the transfer money, that’s a different discussion.

      2. Money hungry players should be sold instantly. Let them go so they can break there balls elsewhere. Time will tell how long they will last if they don’t deliver their worth.

    2. “We wouldn’t be able to give him the salary that he wants without having everybody else ask for the same.”

      This is complete speculation.

      1. True, it’s speculation sustained by history, I’ve seen this happen 1000 times through history of soccer clubs… so yeah, you call it speculation I call it ‘good guess’

        1. Yeah. The odds for that to NOT happen would be the same as me winning the lottery jackpot tomorrow. In theory it’s possible BUT…

  6. Players come and go. I was heartbroken when Gullit and Rijkaard left Milan and I can honestly say it hurt even more when Shevchenko and Kaka left also but this is football.

    Only a very few players like Baresi and Maldini will stay forever and these players are RARE.

    Therefore, If Theo wants to go he will go and I’m ok with that as long as we sell him for 100m or more then we can get a good replacement and also upgrade the squad with the rest of the transfer budget.

    Redbird has already proven that they will spend to upgrade the squad with the money they receive from Tonali sale. If Pioli didn’t insist Krunic would play as DM we would already signed a DM instead or Musah.

    It was Pioli that cause the problem for the midfield and then he switched back to a 4231 which made all the midfield signings look like it was poorly planned.

    We cannot force players to stay especially if we can’t give them the salary that they want but I don’t want to lose them for FREE either.

    1. The guys you are referring to left Milan at an advanced stage of their career. Last year we sold 23 years old Tonali, now we could sell 26 years old Hernandez. How is it ambitious?

      The fact that Redbird spent money last summer doesn’t mean that it was wisely spent. Their project was to find players who could develop on the long term, not strengthen a team with a strong core. Again, how is it ambitious?

      1. Bayern sold Alphonso Davies. Are they not ambitious? Barca sold Neymar – were they not ambitious? Dortmund sold Haaland – are they not ambitious and about to play in the CL final?

        This is completely normal. Milan don’t need to sell Theo – if he leaves it’s because he wants to move on.

        1. Difference is Bayern wants to replace Davies with Theo, one of the best LB with one of the best LB. We on the other hand will replace one of the best LB with potential could be.

        2. Barça did not sell Neymar. Neymar wanted to leave and PSG paid his release clause, they had no choice.
          I don’t think Dortmund qualify as an “ambitious” club. Sure they did reach UCL final this season and were first in the Bundesliga last season till the final day, but overall their strategy was always to sell to bigger clubs including Bayern, their rivals. Are we ok with let’s say selling Leao, Theo or Maignan to Juve or Inter ?
          Frankly Bayern has been all over the place since a couple of years, Davies won’t be the first big player to leave. But if we want to give them an excuse, all these players (Davies, Lewandowski and Alaba) won an UCL and many bundesligas, the hunger isn’t there anymore and trying to succeed elsewhere is more appealing.

  7. Previous reports made it clear that milan wouldnt entertain any offers unless it started at 100mil so if he were to be sold that should be the very minimum to start negotiations.

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