Lille owner Alessandro Barnaba has bid farewell to Mike Maignan but had nothing but praise for the goalkeeper ahead of his move to AC Milan.
Pretty much all the major sources are currently reporting that Gianluigi Donnarumma will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of next month with Maignan being the man they have chosen to replace him after an amazing season in Ligue 1, helping Lille to the title with 21 clean sheets.
According to what Fabrizio Romano is reporting on Twitter, Milan will pay a transfer fee of €13m to Lille plus add-ons which could bring the deal to €15m. In a follow-up tweet he mentions that Maignan meanwhile will earn a salary €2.8m net per season with Milan.
Barnaba – the founder of the Merlyn Advisors fund and owner of Lille since 2020 – was interviewed exclusively by Calcio & Finanza and talked about Maignan, who seems all set to be the next Milan goalkeeper.
“Mike is a great goalkeeper with all the numbers to become a great player. He has the energy necessary to keep the entire defensive line always alert and ready to play. He has exceptional technical skills,” he said (via MilanNews).
“He has the confidence of a veteran with the reflexes of a 20-year-old. I am sure he will become the goalkeeper of the French national team and it will be a real shame to see him go, but as I said in the article, he too is close to the expiration of the contract and unfortunately it is difficult to keep these guys when they have the opportunity to go and play in leagues much richer than the French one. I’m sure that wherever he goes he will do well.”
