Youssouf Fofana is now ‘one step away’ from joining AC Milan and the management hope to get him in before they leave for the United States, a report claims.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) reports that this could be the decisive week for the Fofana deal. There is already an agreement in place with the player over personal terms, and now a final push is needed with Monaco.
In the last few hours there has been talk of interest from Manchester United and Atletico Madrid for Fofana and it is true that both clubs have asked for information. This news has seen Milan accelerate in the last few hours to try find an agreement with Monaco.
According to what the paper writes, there were positive talks over the phone between the two managements yesterday and an agreement has been found on the fixed part which stands at around €14m.
In the next round of talks an agreement on bonuses will be sought and then Fofana will finally be able to consider himself a new Rossoneri player. La Gazzetta continues by underlining that in the next 48-72 hours things could conclude positively, and that he is one step away.
Once the final issues between the two clubs have been resolved, the 25-year-old will be able to sign a four-year contract worth €3m net per season including bonuses which is double what he gets in the Principality.
Furthermore, at Milan, Fofana would meet his national teammates Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez, as well as a large Francophone contingent. Curiously, the player has already been in Italy in the past few hours as his friend Moussa Diaby got married in Florence. It could be his next home.
Fofana and Pavlovic deals really need to be done by the end of this week
We still need basically another 3 of those type of players: CM, CB and ST
Current version is Samardzic, Kiwior, and Fulkrug.
Fixed part €14mn ? If true that’s pretty cheap, wonder why no other clubs want him at that price? Maybe he is one of the few players in modern football that when he gives his word to join a club he means it.
As for bonuses, throw in a €10mn Ballon D’or clause or something equally unrealistic 😆 🤣
He is no Forrest Gump, buddy
I just believe it when the player hold our shirt and take photo.
My word, you would think this is the biggest transfer of the year, all the drama, delays and complications.
He is a player in final year of his contract. just get it done.
It’s not like we are trying to sign Mbappe here ffs
The points gap with Inter continue to widen not close, just sayin
How? 🤦🏼♂️
Mediocre at best. We don’t need another CM, but DM regardless of weather Bennacer stays or leaves. The reason he is going for cheap is that not many teams are interested
Maybe so but who did we fight off for Maignan at 13m or Theo and Puli at 20m? I don’t remember having competition for those signings…
Just because you don’t remember it it doesn’t mean there weren’t other parties interested or involved. I don’t remember either, it’s not important info for me.
So checked just now and Chelsea was interested in Mike to replace Kepa in 2020, in 2021 we supposedly beat spurs who also wanted him to replace Hugo. I could go and check who wnated theo or puli but I’m hungry and not in the mood
But a lack of interests of big clubs in a certain player doesn’t mean that this player is bad or not worth it though.
With that said, I’m not particularly convinced by Fofana. I don’t think he is a bad player nor that he can’t be useful, but he is not the defensive profile we’re looking for. He pretty much was always paired or played in front of ultra defensive midfielders (Camara, Tchouaméni, Kanté just to name those).
And should he be absent for a game or more, we will might find ourselves in trouble.
And supposedly Man U and Athletico are interested in Fofana. Just because there is interest doesn’t mean it is concrete. And this management getting deals done for less and sometimes far less than what selling clubs are asking should be applauded, not criticized.
“And this management getting deals done for less and sometimes far less than what selling clubs are asking should be applauded, not criticized.”
Even if it’s at the cost of the said player coming late into the summer ?
its all about efficiency. The efficiency you think of is saving money and getting players. The efficiency i think about is getting the team ready fast, maybe spending a few million more, but the team gets valuable gel time for it..
we got morata done on a fast track, but we haggle over fofana and pavlo for 3-4M each.. and we all know for those 3-4M we might save we will just get another pelegrino or lazetič or something..
You’re right mate. And with the players coming in, the team is getting stronger. The management deserves a lot of credit. Now, we have a situation where players are picking Milan ahead of other big spenders.
He is a DM that will suit Milan the best. We needed a strong physical presence infront of defense and it will help players like rejinders big time. He could be mediocre in a different team but for milan his style of play is very much needed and and will make this team immediately better.
Jesus F Christ. Fofana is not a DM. Why do you even think he’s a DM? Have you seen many Monaco games?
Fofana is a good player but when looking at his Stats he isn’t really a defensive midfielder. You can’t play him next to Reijnders neither next to Samardic. We need a defensive midfielder!!
No he isnt. Dunno why Italian newspapers keep calling him a defensive midfielder? Hes a central midfielder, a box to box players whos best with the ball, but also good at winning it and with a good physique, but he never played alone as a dmf in a 4-3-3. Always in a double pivot in 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 depending on how u see Monacos lineup.
So my guess is that he will be used together with Reijnders or Bennacer in the double pivot. Maybe Bennacer-Fofana in the double pivot and Reijnders in the offensive midfield position, or Fofana-Reijnders with RLC as offensive midfielder?
Then again 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 are just numbers. What matters is how they move and position themselves, but from the first training game it seems like Fonseca wanna play the ball up with 3 centrally positioned defenders and 2 defensive midfielders and one higher up to link with the attack, so then Reijnders-Fofana just above Kalulu-Tomori-Pavlovic (or Thiaw) seem logical.
https://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/youssouf-fofana-monacos-box-to-box-midfield-dynamo/
If anyone wanna read up more about Fofanas player profile.
Side note: If Milan really wanted a solid dmf they should sell Bennacer, Adli and Pobega and use that cash for Manuel Ugarte, hes a ballwinner like you havent seen. And he lost his starting position in PSG for some reason, so hes willing to leave.
He is fully capable of playing as a dm, the thing is that you are both right. Fofana in his career have played 108 times as CM and 81 times as DM. He good good experience in both positions
Even as a DM he never played as a lone DM and he was always paired/in front of, players like Tchouaméni, Camara and Kanté.
So how well will he do with ball carriers who can’t defend to save their lives like ours remains to be seen.
Those done deal in 48h usually last 3-4 weeks when one of the rubbish newspapers write it
Well they said the same thing about zirzkee before so we’ll see
Another bakayoko
Hurry up and Close the deal before United or ATH jump in with a real offer.
Good get for 14M assuming it’s finalized – just hurry the F up