GdS: Milan still without full-backs – new names in the frame as Brown and Doue fade

AC Milan started the summer knowing they needed two starting full-backs, and they have managed to get neither through the door.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes this morning, a little over a month from the first competitive game of the season in the Coppa Italia against Bari (17 August), Milan still find themselves without a starting full-back.

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They thought they’d found Theo Hernandez’s replacement, or at least a left-footed player with a good price-to-quality ratio. Instead, after committing himself to the Rossoneri, Archie Brown changed his mind on Friday night, convinced by the super contract offered by Fenerbahçe.

Finding another left-footed player at the same price will be difficult and the Rossoneri will be forced to invest more. On the right, however, the second offer for Guéla Doué was rejected: raising the proposed price from €15m to €18m wasn’t enough to secure Strasbourg’s approval, who want €25m+.

Doué remains the favorite for the position, but there’s a long way to go before the deal is sealed. Marc Pubill of Almeria, despite possessing other qualities, could gain traction.

A mockery

For Brown, Milan went to bed on Friday night convinced that everything was in order. They had a deal they thought was sealed with the English winger and had matched the €8m offer Fenerbahce had sent to Gent.

The final exchange of documents with the Belgian management was still pending, but it was considered a formality, so much so that the club had arranged a private flight for Friday evening – then postponed until Saturday morning – to bring the player to Milan. They had also booked a medical.

The player confirmed: “The negotiations with Milan were practically done, and I was ready to go.” So what happened? Yesterday morning, Brown’s agent was unavailable for a good hour and then explained to Tare that a late-night call from the Fenerbahçe president had changed the game.

Along with the phone call, of course, there was also a significant adjustment to both the full-back’s commission and salary, which went from the €1.4m plus bonuses that Milan guaranteed for five years to €3.5m for the same number of seasons.

Milan didn’t even consider matching the offer, especially since it would have upset the wage bill given Brown would have earned as much as former Ballon d’Or winner Modric, who cut his salary to come to Italy.

Then there’s the player’s behavior, who previously stated he wanted to move to Milan, not boarding his flight to Turkey on Friday afternoon, and his new agent’s. Now Tare and Furlani must decide who to focus on after Theo: Girona’s Miguel Gutierrez is an idea.

On the right

Having established that Monaco’s Vanderson is too expensive, Furlani and Tare are insisting on Strasbourg’s Guéla Doué, but the French club have also rejected the second offer that they received on Saturday.

Strasbourg intend to keep the full-back or sell him for no less than €25m plus bonuses, perhaps exceeding €30m. That’s too much money, even if Doué is the favorite, has asked to be sold, and would like to come to Milan.

Therefore, since yesterday, Milan have been forced to look around carefully and evaluate whether to make a move for Marc Pubill from Almeria, who is in Wolverhampton’s sights. He costs €15m, but be careful: everyone knows Milan have urgency, and this raises the price.