MN: Maldini and Massara return to Italy – they will work on the De Ketelaere operation

By Oliver Fisher -

Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara have left the rest of the squad in order to come back to Italy and work on the market, a report claims.

According to MilanNews, the technical director and sporting directors returned to Milan having travelled to Villach with the team last night. They left Klagenfurt this morning to return to Milano, where some crucial days await regarding the mercato.

The next few days will be crucial to try and close the Charles De Ketelaere operation, as the Belgian did not play for Club Brugge today and he wasn’t even called up for the squad, which has certainly ignited speculation that things are advanced.

The report reveals that the 21-year-old was not summoned due to a direct request by him and his entourage to protect him from any physical problems that may complicate a potential transfer. Now, Milan must finally find an agreement with the Belgian champions.

Tags AC Milan Charles De Ketelaere

19 Comments

  1. Dear Brugge, this is your youth player. A player you should have utmost respect towards because he grew up in your club, but how do you show your respect, by blocking a move to the club he wants to go to?

    1. Exactly. The guy has given them a lot already and will be earning them 32-35M€ so that should be enough to make the kid decide where to end up next.

    2. Big clubs like Milan and Barcelona try to low ball and bully smaller clubs like Brugge. Brugge have invested a lot of money in CDK who has been on their books since the age of 7. Milan’s opening bid was 20 million half of what Leeds have offered! They will probably get CDK who clearly desires to play for them. But there is no rule which says a small club should sell a contracted player below market value. Don’t blame the Belgians for this embarrassing fiasco.

        1. Also Milan’s 20M bid is absolutely irrelevant in the current situation, you’ve just used it to make your arguement seem superior. As of now Milan have a bid of 30 + 2 mil in bonuses which is only 5 mil under the confirmed by multiple sources bid of 37 mil of Leeds

          1. Also, it is obvious that weaker clubs have to persaude by money of their entire “project” is all about avoiding relegation. What if some Chinese club offered 40 mln, hah? Brugge is not fair. Tbh going from champions of Belgium who regularly play in CL to the team that will soon end in a second English division is a step back. Not to mention that if CDK will turn out to be a great player for Milan everyone should remember he came from Brugge, which could attract other buyers in the future, so eventually it does pay off.

          2. Actually it’s a 27 million bid or there abouts seeing seeing 27 million pounds roughly works out to be 30 million euros

  2. As much as I love Milan, there is no project anymore, the club will only be a cash cow for who ever runs it form here on. From a 100mill budget to a speculated 50mill, but the reality is somewhere around 30mill with everything going on. Another reality is the club was purchased by broke people.

    1. “but the reality is somewhere around 30mill with everything going on.”

      You REALLY think CDK is the only player Milan is trying/going to buy, eh? They needs to buy at least 3 players so the budget they have cannot be 30M€ as you claim.

      1. And it’s not that easy for Juve or Inter either. Juve had to sell De Ligt to get new players and if Inter were to buy more, they’d need to sell Skriniar. Without the sold players they wouldn’t spend / wouldn’t have spent anywhere near the sums they have.

        Is that what you want Milan to do? Sell Leao to finance more purchases?

        1. Ummm your forgetting the Juve also signed Vlahovic and Zakaria for a combined 80M in 2022 – so no De Ligt deal wasn’t needed to sign Bremer, etc… – they needed to cover Vlahovic and Zakaria. All on the 2022 books. Juve has more revenue than us due to owning their own stadium.

          1. Selling De Light goes into this years books, not last years.

            And yes, theor own stadium is the key factor here to buying more expensive players. Too bad the city councils in Milan don’t want the Milanese clubs to prosper.

  3. Les dirigeants peinent à la finaliser avec un seul joueur, alors d’autres rivaux (Juventus, Internationale et Roma) ont presque bouclé leurs Mercato estival !
    Où est le néo propriétaire du club, où est son apport financier, où sont ses investissements. bref, quel est son projet pour le club?

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