The Antonio Conte to AC Milan rumours are doing the rounds again, and Michele Criscitiello has outlined how things might go if he were to arrive.
Earlier in the week, Luca Momblano did a segment live on Telelombardia in which he claimed that Conte has reached a verbal agreement to take over at Milan, and since then the rumours have gone into overdrive again.
Sportitalia director Michele Criscitiello has always been adamant that Conte is a serious option to replace Pioli, and now he has provided an update on the situation during a piece he did live on television.
As PianetaMilan relay, the CEO and director of SportItalia was asked by a fan if Conte will be the next head coach of Milan, and Cristiciello revealed his belief that things are going that way.
Then, pressed with a more specific question regarding how a club like Milan can satisfy the requests of someone like Conte with the policy it has in terms of wages and the mercato, he addressed the point.
“First of all, my reasoning is that Conte doesn’t mind this current team, and Milan have estimated that they must sign at least four players in the next summer window,” he began.
“Conte knows that the club cannot take four players on eight million [net per season] wages each. As you know very well Inter no longer need a coach, Juventus too, and with the alternatives being Roma and Napoli his priority is Milan.
“Obviously he wants strong players. He might have some guarantees on the player’s identikit, but since he is not stupid, he knows very well that Milan’s situation is not like that of Tottenham and he knows very well that things in Italy have changed.
“Therefore, he wants the four players – two defenders, a midfielder, a striker who becomes two if Olivier Giroud leaves – to have certain characteristics.
“And I believe that the meeting point on the transfer market is not a problem, just as I believe that it is not a problem even from the point of view of salary.
“Milan knows that they have to spend more, but starts from a good base. And at the same time, Conte knows that he cannot ask for 12 million euros a year to coach a team in Italy.
“For this reason, if there is a serious and concrete will from the parties and especially at this moment everything seems to be going in that direction, the agreement could be made not now, but in a month or so. Between the end of February and the beginning of March.”
We took a look back at the highs and lows of Pioli’s nearly five-year tenure so far during a recent feature, while in the meantime the newspapers continue to churn out the names of potential replacements.
