Samuele Ricci just needs to complete his medical tests and sign his contract, then he will officially become AC Milan’s first signing of the summer. In many ways, it’s the perfect deal for the Rossoneri.
Ricci has been on Milan’s radar for a very long time, ever since he played at Empoli, and rumours in the last few months seemed to suggest that it was only a matter of time. Sure enough, Fabrizio Romano tweeted the ‘Here we go’ on Saturday afternoon…
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A fantastic deal on all fronts
After months of negotiating, albeit with a slight interruption when Max Allegri and Igli Tare were appointed, Milan and Torino have reached an agreement at €25m including bonuses. To be precise, we are talking about €23m as the fixed part and €2m in bonuses.
As for the salary, Ricci is expected to sign a five-year contract worth around €2.5m plus bonuses, which is very reasonable even without the Growth Decree. In terms of the financials, as such, you have to say that it’s a signing completely within Milan’s parameters.
There are more positives to this signing, though. In the 2024-25 season, it was painfully clear that Milan lacked a proper defensive midfielder. Youssouf Fofana did an okay job at times, but his ball-carrying abilities and interceptions were more key, as opposed to his positioning in defence.
Subsequently, the Milan centre-backs were exposed far too many times. Ricci, on the other hand, has made a name for himself in the No.6 role at Torino, working tirelessly in both phases. It’s a position that teams sometimes struggle to reinforce, especially at the aforementioned figures.
In addition to the price tag and position, you simply cannot look past the fact that he’s 23 years old and Italian. The lack of Italians has been a real problem for Milan in recent years, not just for the identity but also for the squad lists. The latter is something that shouldn’t be downplayed.
We usually see inflated price tags for Italian players precisely for that reason, so Milan getting Ricci for just €25m is fantastic on all fronts. Even the fans who perhaps aren’t convinced by his characteristics will surely agree with that.
No resistance from Torino and Cairo
Also relating to the price tag, it was very surprising to see how Torino and president Urbano Cairo approached the negotiations. Most of you might know it already, scarred from Milan’s negotiations over Andrea Belotti in 2017, but the 68-year-old is infamously tough to break down.
In the end, as was reported by Pietro Mazzara on Saturday, it was Torino that put pressure on Milan to complete the signing. You have to assume that Il Toro need the money to kickstart their own mercato, but there are likely other factors at play too.
First of all, Matteo Moretto stated on his YouTube channel that the deal has been more or less certain since January/February. Even Ricci’s renewal with the club was done in view of the sale, with Milan and Torino keeping talks alive throughout.
We can take two things from this. First of all, it’s clear that the negotiations remained at an advanced stage after the January attempt. Secondly, Ricci clearly gave his ‘yes’ very early on and started mentally preparing for a move to the Rossoneri.
These are two things that would be difficult to go back on. Sure, negotiations break down all the time, but opening talks with another club takes a lot of time (and there are no guarantees). A few other Serie A clubs were interested, including Inter, but Milan always remained one step ahead.
The Nerazzurri, for example, reportedly need to offload Hakan Calhanoglu before making any further changes to their midfield (or at least that role). Again, that takes time and Torino were eager to start making some reinforcements, opting for Milan’s cash offer.
Perfect start to the summer
All in all, this feels like a signing that every single Milan fan will get on board with, as Ricci ticks all the boxes. Not to mention that Luka Modric has also been secured for the midfield, which means the 23-year-old will hopefully be able to learn a lot from the Croatian.
The signing also came at just the right time. Most of us have been very impressed with Tare’s work so far, especially his strategy for the transfer market, but some concerns were starting to creep through about the lack of signings.
After all, the Raduno (first day of the pre-season) is around the corner and having as many signings as possible by then is crucial. Above all, the importance of having such a decisive role as the No.6 sorted cannot be overstated, as Lex Fofana taught us last summer.
It will certainly take some pressure off Tare’s shoulders, or at the very least it will free up time for other negotiations. The latter is perhaps the most important thing as, by all accounts, Tare isn’t one to get easily influenced by the media or fan criticism.
Aside from Modric, it will be very interesting to see who will be the next signing after Ricci. Negotiations for Ardon Jashari remain ongoing but Milan are also looking for a striker, while the left-back position is not vacant as a result of Theo Hernandez’s departure.
In short, there is still a lot of work to be done and we shouldn’t celebrate too early. But after years of signings that have been somewhat questionable, even if there have been some good ones too, we are allowed to enjoy it at least for a bit.
I dont know why you think he worth more?! He is nothing special player and i dont see what we get with him. Next year we will sell him for 15m and that is his real price.
Is it possible for some idiotic comments not to be posted?
Haha it looks as if no matter what they always cry. For once can we just say well done? Maybe yhey know something we dont. I remember clearly, this is how it was with Tiji
Getting him for less than 30mil is a good deal. A reminder to all the clowsn who are hating on itialian players quality that it doesn’t matter, cuz WE STILL NEED HOMEGROWN PLAYERS! Better to at least get the best ones you can out of the crop. Bringing in him xhaka and modric gives good experience and grit, along with Fofana Adli and Pobega if we hold onto those 2. Only thing really missing is a CAM now for when modric needs rest. We never replaced brahim and its shown. Now this management needs to get A REAL Rightback and a striker. Letting go of jovic was monumentally stupid and now they’ll have to fork out the cash cuz now everyone knows Milan only have 1 striker and will up the price
If people don’t respect Italian players then they shouldn’t be supporting an Italian club.
It’s that simple.
In contrary, people love italian players and would love to see a new Baggio and likes. What i personally do not like is having italian players for the sake of being Italian and not their qualities
SerieA has lost its edge the moment they added protectionism for Italian players. It simply doesnt work. They are protected by sheer fact they play home, so let yhem compete like yhey used to
lol brahim the headless chicken?
There isn’t going to be a CAM. 4-3-3 with a 6 and two 6/8s. Allegri clearly wants to play a counterattacking style with mids that know how to spray balls all over the pitch and defensive solidity. Leao clearly isn’t suited for possession which is what Fonseca was brought in to implement.
For anyone saying it’s not a good deal, not long ago they paid similar money for Musah.
And a lot of people thought that was a good deal.
And Conte is happy to do so still, so maybe it was?
Point being you can only tell these things on how they turn out, anything before that is just vibes
Outside of Gerryboys, no one considered Musah a good deal. Same goes for 80% of those bought in 250 million spending spree.
I would rather still have Kessie. These other guys, such as Fofana and Ricci, are not true central defensive midfielders. Even Tonali did not fill the role properly when he was forced back there.
Kessie has been playing against teams MUCH weaker than in Serie A. He might not even be close to what he was then we basically have Musah again because that’s what Kessie was before.
Kessie was terrible when he came to Milan
The only remember him after Ibra come, they forget before Ibra come we want to get rid of him
Depending on how you define terrible, Kessie was actually similar to Musah. He has incredible stamina, same as Musah. He run around like a headless chicken same as Musah. He was coached into a defensive midfielder that make the most out of his ability, similarly I think Musah can only be a DM like Kessie. That is why Musah still has a market because he has raw ability and he can still be mould into the same type of player like Kessie. I am not sure why our coaches doesn’t feel that Musah can be mould into a DM but choose to use him in other roles.
Nope. Kessie always has that physically, he just hadn’t been adapted as Defensive midfielder, he was a B2B midfielder at Atalanta, that’s why he had those goal there.
He has the composure, ball retention, and basic passing abilities, that’s why he didn’t lost the ball immediately like what Musah is doing regularly.
Musah is just bad player.
Spot on about Musah. His only position long term is as a holding mid. That is where he played in the last world cup and did well. Needs to improve his ball winning.
I’d sign Kessie and close that department if possible. If not I’d even leave the midfield as is until other areas are shored up.
Replacing Theo, getting a back up at LB, a starter at RB and a striker should be the priority. I remember our fullbacks being a weak spot on Allegri teams.
Should Gimenez get hurt, even if he plays well, puts the whole season in peril. Letting Jovic go is concerning when we had an option to extend.
Starter RB hard to tell, problem is that interesting players for RB have contracts until 2028 or more. There’s been rumours on Dodo, but i would better look for Vanderson at Mónaco, but has a contract i think until 2028 so they will ask a big transfer fee probably; Dalot coming back would be good but also has contract until 2028. I thought Walker could be interesting option, a veteran to go along young Jiménez, but that didn’t work. For LB, i would try for Grimaldo or Calafiori, and Tagliafico as back up for a season or two. And for striker, i think Mitrovic wanting to return to Europe is interesting option, he has proven to be a goal scorer and is a player with experience and fighting spirit, but, i would go all in, if i was the Milan board, for Osimhen, by offering Napoli cash + players (minimum 40 M and then players) i would try for him. And regarding his high salary, both Tammy and Jovic have left the team and Milan paid around 7 M between both last season and that money for salaries then has been freed up, so I don’t see a problem in Milan offering him a high salary (around 8, 9 or 10 M per season)
Yes but Kessie is a dirty filthy traitor.
You’re a dirty filthy traitor. You openly rooted against Milan last season fake fan. Go support Como, hypocrite.
Casshie fanboy. I never thought I’ll see that.
Of all ppl to talk about traitor….left us to go support Como and now back here like nothing happened
Kessie has been so poor since leaving Milan so why would you want him back? He is now worth around 14-15m, that already tell you how he has been performing. Stop living in the past, Kessie has not performed at the same level for a long time.
Keep Furlani away from the negotiation table and it would go fine, he is an arsehole. We pay Furlani tax for most of the transfers.
“you can’t look past him being 23 and Italian”
There are literally thousands of Italians under 23 that could be signed for less.
Most of them aren’t as good at football.
But his signing will be determined by how he does as a midfielder. Hopefully works out well. But many thought Chukwueze, Okafor and many others were good value signings. They/we were proven wrong so far (maybe one of them can come good still).
Those mentioned, many of us called a bust from the beginning – RLC, Musah, Chuk. Rightfully so.
The difference is Ricci has actually played in Serie A before.
being Italian is still an advantage signing because they know serie A better (or at least know how italian football works).. it is such an unfortunate for chuk and okafor and or maybe RLC or musah because we hyped them for their talent before joining milan.
€20-25 mil is his value.
They just paid what he is actually worth.
Transfermarkt put his value down as 30m so people are saying 25m is a good price. Transfermarkt put a more reasonable value than what some people think.
At the same time, I am not particularly impressed by him as well. Let’s see how he actually perform in our games. We actually need a pirlo type of player in our midfield to spread the ball, Tonali can do that but none of our midfielder could do that job after he left, all our midfielders can only run with the ball like TJ, Fofana. Modric, Ricci and Jashari would fix the problem, Tare and Allegri are targeting the correct type of player in my opinion, that is what I would give them credit for.
Just wow….Almost everyone in this Forum has been screaming Ricci Ricci Ricci, Milan must have Ricci! Why aren’t we buying Ricci? Now management has virtually brought the guy to the club…Now there’s a debate on if it was a good deal or not? Are you listening to yourselves? Deal done, next!
Ricci is a good player, but he is not the enforcer Milan needed in midfield
Fofana played his best alongside Tchouameni, who was the guy dictating the tempo and the guy shoring up the defense
I don’t believe Samuele will be a good signing, but I hope I’m wrong
Forza Milan!
It’s the first time I’ve seen the media openly praise our management—and it makes sense. There’s always more to the football transfer market than us fans realize. Take Reijnders’ move to Man City for a bargain price, or the board’s insistence on selling Musah for over €25 million: these are decisions based on information we don’t have.
I often find it funny how many of us complain about choices we know almost nothing about. For example, when the club let go of all our strikers, leaving only Giménez, we all wondered why they didn’t keep Jović or Carmada as backups. Yet, in hindsight, it’s clear the management knew exactly what they were doing.
Of course, they can be wrong—fans aren’t infallible either—but more often than not they get it right. And these aren’t one-man decisions; they’re made collectively by specialists whose job is to understand every detail we don’t see. So how can they really miss the mark?
I, on the other hand, often become dumbfounded how the so-called management refuse to see the obvious. These turds have every reason to be criticized due to their clear incompetence.
Most of these people are specialists just on the paper, don’t get carried away by their status, as it often means little. We see the result of their “work” in ruined careers, wasted resources, missed opportunities & league table position year in, year out.
Things aside, selling Reinjders & getting Ricci are good pieces of business. Getting 40 years old Modric, on the other hand, is not.
I’m really in tune with the mood and direction of your comment. But I have some kind of reservation as to you saying Tijji’s moving to Man City was a bargain. Bynoe Gittens is moving to Chelsea for over £50mil for Christ’s sake. I dunno see Tijji’s move as a good bargain for us except for City though
“We usually see inflated price tags for Italian players precisely for that reason”
Complete hores**t. What did Retegui go for? What did Di Gregorio go for? Italians only have high fees once they’re established internationals.
Come on guys stop complaining all the time. Most of us wanted Ricci for more than a year, and now when we finally got him early in the window, with no drama, at very reasonable price you guys still complain. He his a good player, we need italians to fulfill the homegrown quotas. Great piece of business from Tare.
I’ve seen Ricci play a few times now. A few times against us and then I caught a few other games against lesser quality opponents.just to see what the hype was about. In all cases I was never impressed. From the eye test he’s a mezzala, not a DM ..so there’s that. And we have alot of those. Also I don’t see him head and shoulders above the rest of the players around him. When looking at his stats, he’s poor defensively against other mids in Europe and many other categories leave lots to be desired. 🤷♂️.I don’t understand the hype around this one
We need buy Diomande from Sporting he is only 25m, Kayode from Fiorentina or Gusto from Chelsea, Dedic from Salzburg or Arraujo or Dorgu, Osimeh or Nkunku or Lucca or Omorodion