AC Milan’s ownership decided not to match Franck Kessie’s requests knowing they would lose another player of value for free, and their choices have been explained.
La Gazzetta dello Sport report that Kessie should sign a deal with Barcelona that includes a fixed base of €6.5m plus bonuses potentially reaching €8m in total, which is not actually too far off the most recent offer that the Rossoneri made.
In a tough negotiation like the one with Kessie, offering an extra €500k per season might have been enough to get the green light from the player, but the matter boils down to the €10m agent fees that George Atangana is asking for, which would be the equivalent of giving the player €8.5m per year given the extra total costs.
That is why Milan decided not to raise their bid and thus allowed Kessie to go to another team for free, something which was not a simple choice but was one consistent with Elliott Management who always look at investments on a cost-to-value ratio.
If Atangana asked for €10m in commissions from the very first meeting then the margins for a renewal probably never really existed. It is not too far off the Gianluigi Donnarumma situation given they offered him €7m plus bonuses but it was Raiola’s commission that made them say goodbye.
Mike Maignan arrived and now Donnarumma is not missed, while Hakan Calhanoglu also left for free and the Rossoneri remained very competition. Kessie will go, but Yacine Adli has already been bought and Renato Sanches is the man lined up to replace the Ivorian. In short, players come and leave but the club goes on.
