Now that the summer transfer window has closed, one of the issues AC Milan must tackle head on is renewals and Theo Hernandez’s will be one of the most important.
Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) writes this morning how Theo Hernandez’s name has been spoken about a lot in the past couple of weeks and unfortunately not for positive reasons.
First he was criticised a lot for a terrible performance against Parma and then he ended up at the centre of controversy along with his team-mate Rafael Leao for the ‘cooling break saga’.
It’s no mystery that in the summer the Frenchman was at the centre of some transfer rumours with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid links, and that combined with joining arriving back late after the European Championship hasn’t helped his preparations.
There is also another issue that always concerns Theo Hernandez and that is the renewal of his contract that expires in 2026. The player and the club are already talking about it, but for now there is still distance between the parties.
The Frenchman is asking for a salary increase from his current €4m net per season to €8m per year, while Milan do not want to exceed €6-7m per season which is what Leao – the highest paid player in the Milan squad – gets including bonuses.
The negotiations are moving forward with confidence, confirmed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic on August 21: “We’re talking. Everything is under control, everything is ok. We know what we want from them [Theo and Mike] and they know what they want from us. It’s a situation that can be resolved in a minute or with a little more time, but everything is ok.”
In the meantime, however, the full-back also needs to think about the pitch and after rought start to the year, everyone at Milanello expects a change of pace from Theo Hernandez immediately after the break.
As long as Fonseca is the coach Theo won’t extend.
Why? Let’s chase him away from the club for drinking water in the wrong place.
Like every Milan fan I wish for Theo to extend.
Why would he?
1. Money – He can get paid more elsewhere
2. Sporting – He could join a better team
3. Loyalty/Happiness – The directors, coach and many of the players he bonded with are gone
Given top 4 will be a challenge this season, he most likely will wait to see where we finish before extending anything.
I’d say the chance of him being at Milan next season is no more than 50% at best
I don’t believe he would sign, simply because he would have the upper hands as the time ticks down. Unless, of course, if the new contract would have a very achieveable/reasonable release clause (circa 60-65M perhaps). That would be a more natural exit for both parties, and nobody could really get blamed by the fans if other clubs satisfy that clause.
Replace “Theo” in this article with “Kessie”. A copy paste of the situation.
I’m sure at some point it won’t be about the money, but rather about a winning project with a quality coach. So far that’s not the case.