AC Milan and Spurs will square off on the field tonight but away from the pitch the pair have often encountered each other when it comes to the transfer market.
Calciomercato.com recall that Dejan Kulusevski – who is one of Antonio Conte’s irreplaceable players now – was ‘one step away’ from Milan when it became obvious that he was leaving Juventus.
“They have always been the best team in the world,” he declared once he arrived at Tottenham in reference to the Rossoneri, who tried to take sign from Juve on a €3m paid loan with an option to buy. However, the London club swooped with a bigger and better offer.
Milan and Tottenham have also tried to complete operations with each other, such as when Franck Kessie left on a free transfer and the Rossoneri tried to loan Pape Matar Sarr from Spurs who was at FC Metz at the time. Nothing came of it and Paolo Maldini went for Aster Vranckx.
Japhet Tanganga is a player that Milan actually courted for two consecutive sessions but they never got a deal done, so they then turned to Malick Thiaw who was at Schalke 04 and was one of the absolute protagonists of the match in the first leg.
Emerson Royal has been on the notebook of Milan’s management but again he also chose the riches of the Premier League, but one player who did not is Nicolò Zaniolo. Both Milan and Tottenham tried to land the Italian winger in the final few days of the transfer market, though Roma would not accept a loan with option.
Zaniolo waited for Milan to up their bid but in the end the offer from Galatasaray – with the Italian and English markets closed – was the only one that convinced the Roma owners to let him leave. The €35m clause in his contract with the Istanbul club remains tempting to both clubs.
