AC Milan have had the busiest summer transfer window of any top Serie A side and it is not finished yet, but now we move into a crucial period.
The signings made by Milan so far are as follows: Luka Romero and Marco Sportiello on free transfers, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic from Chelsea, Tijanni Reijnders from AZ Alkmaar, Noah Okafor from Red Bull Salzburg and Samuel Chukwueze from Villarrea.
Looking more specifically at the paid-for signings, Loftus-Cheek was the first and he comes for a figure widely reported to be €16m plus bonuses. Pulisic cost €20m as did Reijnders, with Okafor at €14m.
This adds up to €70m, a figure which is significant because it matches the guaranteed sum that Milan made from the club-record sale of Sandro Tonali to Newcastle United.
Where does the money come from for the signing of Chukwueze for €20m plus €8m in bonuses? The answer is that it comes from the budget set out before the Tonali sale, or rather the €35-40m that multiple sources claimed would be made available as a net spend.
The remaining €15-20m of that should go towards the acquisition of the final piece for the midfield which is Yunus Musah from Valencia, but the squad is not yet complete given there are a couple of holes.
A deputy left-back is still being sought and will require paying for unless a loan solution is found. Then a young striker is also believed to be in the pipeline, plus some classic mercato opportunities like another right-back or centre-back may be seized.
This is where the importance of sales comes in, starting with Ante Rebic who is heading for Besiktas in a deal worth €500k plus €1.5m in potential bonuses.
This figure constitutes a capital loss on the accounts but allows Milan to free the almost €10m gross in salary they owe the Croatian for the remainder of his deal.
Junior Messias is instead at the bottom of the ranking of the highest paid players in Stefano Pioli’s squad at just short of €2m gross (€1m net), but Besiktas are also keen on signing him too and his wages would be freed, plus a transfer fee would be involved.
Divock Origi is expected to leave too and on a permanent deal, which would constitute a saving of €15.6m gross when factoring in he will earn €4m net per season until 2026.
Then Fode Ballo-Toure should be sold either on a permanent deal or via an initial loan, and his €1.3m net per season salary would be cut as well.
That cumulative salary saving of just over €28m would allow Milan to then look for the finishing touches to the squad with a bit more margin to operate.
Thanks to Tonali’s sale and with some help from other exits and a lightened wage bill, Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada could go to 10 or possibly more additions, and a totally refreshed squad.
