Days continue to tick by with Charles De Ketelaere having not yet arrived, and it could force AC Milan to change their strategy.
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La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Milan are still in talks over the 21-year-old Club Brugge attacking midfielder and are willing to offer €32m in total, but the Belgian side want €35m to sell having had a bid of €37m from Leeds United.
Within 48 hours a decision either way will arrive, and Milan will either have the man they have been working on for weeks or they will be forced to reshuffle their mercato and go for other targets.
The reason is simple: an expense of over €30m with a budget currently just over €50m would change how negotiations on other targets can be conducted. On the other hand if that money were not used, it could go elsewhere.
This could be good news for Yacine Adli, who has had an impressive preseason so far in the playmaker role. Stefano Pioli made it clear that he had not yet identified the most suitable position for the Frenchman but now the feeling is he can play behind the striker.
Therefore, if De Ketelaere did not arrive and if Adli were declared suitable for the No.10 role, then sizeable financial resources would be freed up for other operations such as Hakim Ziyech, who could arrive on an initial loan and the money would be there to pay his salary.
It could also allow Milan to raise their salary offer to Renato Sanches or to sign Carney Chukwuemeka from Aston Villa, while Eintracht Frankfurt’s Evan N’Dicka could become an option for the defence given his price is €20m.
