AC Milan are hoping to close a deal for Mario Gila next week, currently in talks with Lazio over the price tag, as highlighted by a report.
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Milan have overtaken all of the competition for Gila, who at one point looked destined to join Napoli. An agreement has been reached over a five-year contract, which is quite hefty too, and now negotiations with Lazio are ongoing.
As reported by today’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport (see photo at the bottom), Milan expect to make significant progress by early next week. The situation will be a lot clearer then, especially in terms of whether Lazio are willing to accept a discount or not.
€3m in the balance
Lazio have set the price tag at €25m for the fixed base, while they want another €5m in bonuses for a total of €30m. The Spaniard’s contract expires in one year, so the demands could be deemed excessive, but the fact Real Madrid are entitled to 50% plays a big part here.
In practice, if Claudio Lotito’s side were to sell the player for €25m, they would only earn €12.5 million. This means that the price tag cannot drop that much, as shown by Lazio turning down Milan’s initial offer of €22m.
The feeling, however, is that the weekend could help smooth out that €3m difference, reaching a figure that satisfies both parties and ultimately confirms the deal. Meanwhile, Ruben Amorim has already spoken with Gila and is waiting for him at Milanello.
Convincing blitz
Milan’s acceleration, or blitz if you like, has focused primarily on the player and his agents so far. While Napoli had reached an agreement with Gila’s entourage for a salary of around €3m per year, the Rossoneri trumped that by putting €5m on the table and a higher agent commission.
Gila, as such, has put Milan at the top of the wish list. It’s a revival of what once was as Milan opened talks with the defender’s entourage already in the spring. However, the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League and the resulting sacking of the top management led to a slowdown.
Napoli and Atalanta thus swooped in, although failing to reach an agreement, which opened up a path for the Rossoneri to come back.
More to come?
Gila might not be the only centre-back to arrive this summer. If Fikayo Tomori ends up leaving, then they will have to go for another one. The Englishman’s contract expires in 2027 and he doesn’t appear to fit the mould of Amorim’s ideal centre-back.
While Gila would be a player capable of playing both as a full-back and as a right-back, the other defender could be a different profile. The dream is a leader like Virgil van Dijk, while Antonio Silva and Gonçalo Inacio are still candidates.
Finally, keep an eye on the young Victor Valdepeñas, a 19-year-old Real Madrid player, who is managed by the same agency as Gila.
