Marseille have now decided that they want to keep Ismael Bennacer and they will open talks over a new deal for him.
After being linked with a move to Marseille last summer, he did eventually head there on a six-month loan deal with an option to buy in the winter transfer window. However, strong doubts about the buy-out have arisen as he struggled to make a big impact.
Marseille’s plan
From widespread reports in Italy and in France, it seems Marseille are not willing to pay the €12m to make the move permanent. This opens up new scenarios, given that Milan will get back full control of the player once the option expires.
The latest from Fabrizio Romano is as follows: “Olympique Marseille want to keep Ismael Bennacer, while links to Al Duhail move are wide of mark. OM will try to negotiate with AC Milan but current issue to be resolved is Bennacer’s salary.”
What Milan’s stance is after the arrival of Igli Tare and Massimiliano Allegri remains to be seen, but there was talk at the time of the management being irritated by Bennacer’s decision to try and force an exit right at the end of the window.
lowkey f Bennacer at this point… we gave him all this time and he just runs away the moment he comes back and now refuses to lower his salary after not playing for 2 seasons…
If you had a contract that agreed a salary and you had a low numbers of years left knowing you’ll never earn that much again… why would you take a financial hit? He’s got two years left on his Milan deal.
He’s looking out for himself, which is fair, and makes sense Marseille will ask for a reduced fee in order to make up the difference. Or, more likely, we agree a loan again to kick the can down the road another year.
yeah but there is also direct fault with Bennacer… kept getting injured and going to Algeria without any proper rehab…
it’s a job, when you f up… you don’t get the same privileges… that salary was for actual Bennacer not whatever he currently is…
Sell him at a discout… but to their rivals.
The jewel at Marseille is Mason Greenwood. Rising star in the PL but run out of town two years ago. Scored 20+ goals last year and wants a bigger team. Sell Bennacer as part of the package for Greenwood to reduce his fee (45-50). Milan gets rid of injury prone Bennacer and gets the next “superstar”. He could play on the right and move Pulisic to AM. With Leao, Pulisic, Greenwood and Gimenez no reason Milan does not score 3+ goals per match.