AC Milan have agreements in place with four of their major targets but now must also strike a deal with their respective clubs, a report claims.
As reported this morning by La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), Milan have received the green light and have verbally agreed personal terms with Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Tijjani Reijnders and Samuel Chukwueze.
Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada have been working on the quartet and have gotten their approval first, hoping that each of them could come in to add to Ruben Loftus-Cheek who has already signed.
Now, however, they must deal with Chelsea, Valencia, AZ Alkmaar and Villarreal if they are to complete any of the four signings, with the focus being on improving the midfield and the right wing role at the moment.
The signs are clear: Milan are undergoing a lot of change and will be very different from the 2022-23 side. What is posive for fans is that it seems the project is convincing, as the four players saying ‘yes’ testifies that the Rossoneri’s charm is alive.
Puslic: When the USA international was good, he came close to 10 goals per season which seems to have convinced Milan. Pulisic would earn around €4m net per season with the Rossoneri and would be happy to join.
Pioli thinks that he could play on the right, in the centre as an attacking midfielder or on the left. Much has been written about the USA factor because Christian is very popular over there, while Todd Boehly – the owner of Chelsea – is the other American factor.
Boehly continues to ask for a high fee, but Furlani and Moncada point out that he will be available on a free in a year and in the last Premier League season he only played eight games as a starter. Milan aim to get him for €15m and there is optimism.
Musah: When he accelerates, the other USA international changes pace and drags the team behind him. Milan have identified him as the ideal midfielder, knowing that he can also play in a two-man midfield.
Musah and the club have an agreement principle for a contract worth €2m net per season but here too the obstacle is elsewhere because Valencia do not want to accept below €25m to sell.
Despite this, on paper this is the simplest deal to close because distance is not huge while Milan are convinced as is the player and Valencia’s need to sell makes them less rigid than AZ or Villarreal.
Reijnders: He is 24 years old but has only become a regular at AZ Alkmaar in the last twelve months. Watching him play, he is striking because he plays fast and vertically. Pioli thinks of using him as a central player in a three-man midfield or in the duo in front of the defence and the 24-year-old agrees.
He has said yes to a contract worth €1.7m net per season and has put Milan above other options, but the Dutch club want between €25m and €30m to sell which has opened a difficult tug of war.
Milan’s idea is to sign Reijnders for €18-20m, but finding a meeting point is possible but not that simple. The idea is that he and Musah arrive together.
Chukwueze: Milan are looking to the Nigerian because of his dribbling, acceleration and one-on-one ability on the right wing. Here too the usual methods of negotiation apply: first an agreement with the player, then speak with his club.
Milan talked a lot with the 24-year-old and his agents with Stefano Pioli even calling him, and there is a mutual desire to work together. Villarreal want at least €25m – preferably €30m – to sell him though.
They are not worrying about the fact that in a year they would lose him on a free which makes things tougher, and in the meantime Daichi Kamada can become a factor.
Milan have chosen Loftus-Cheek as the first non-EU player and, for the second, they have to choose. Chukwueze is the first choice but with Kamada there has already been a handshake.
The X-Factor: Then there is Davide Frattesi. Pioli is a big fan of the Italian, and Milan spoke about him with his agent Giuseppe Riso but not with Sassuolo. The meeting, initially scheduled for this week, now cannot be delayed.
The operation for Milan is feasible. Frattesi is expensive but not massively expensive, if we consider that Lorenzo Colombo or Daniel Maldini could enter the operation so less than €30m in cash could be enough. Inter remain on pole, waiting for Marcelo Brozovic’s sale.
One starter midfielder, RW and ST
Things are warming up nicely.
Kamada?
Are they giving up on Kamada?
I won’t put Colombo for Frattesi. Not too convince by him and Colombo seemed too good to sell, Italia and academy product.
If Frattesi too expensive then throw Maldini or other young player and 20m. If they reject then just pursue Musah/Tijnders/other names like Dominguez or Amrabat.
And Kamada……?
This “Valencia need to sell so Musah may be cheap” thing is absolute tosh by the way – Valencia do need to sell but crucially they need to get the best price they can. So if it means waiting until August to get €5m more from a desperate Premier League club they will wait for it.
Samuel chukwu are the hardest i think due to villarreal keep asking 30-40m euro for a player that only have one year contract left, better skip him or wait him free transfer next year and go sign kamada. Pulisic ,yunus and kamada must become priority. Pulisic with his versatile & popularity in USA, yunus for box to box , kamada for physical AMF
Kamada should be priority cus he’s free and had tons of experience, I don’t get that signing him is dependent on those who we can’t get. I hope inter get Fratessi cus I don’t fancy that guys play just like RLC