In the next few hours, the dialogue between AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen will become more intense, with two players on the table.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), the talks will not only involve Granit Xhaka – the object of Igli Tare and Massimiliano Allegri’s desires – but also Malick Thiaw. He could leave Milanello for Leverkusen, after Jonathan Tah’s departure.
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The two operations could be unrelated because Leverkusen are in a hurry to sort out the back line, while the Rossoneri want to make the most from sales of the players not considered central to the project.
After Tijjani Reijnders’ farewell, however, there is no need to include them in the 2024-25 budget. The money would be better deposited in the next financial year, which will have no European revenues coming in.
Xhaka the chosen one
Granit Xhaka confirmed through his entourage that he would like to try an adventure in Serie A and joining Milan fascinates him. Yesterday’s was not the first meeting between the directors and his agent, but it made it clear what the orientation is.
Now, however, comes the difficult part: convincing Bayer to sell him and then finding an agreement on the amount. Furlani and Tare will start working on it from today, simultaneously carrying forward the discussion to close an agreement with the player over terms.
That should not be an issue because Milan can raise the current salary of €2.2m net per season he gets from Bayer. Then, the plan is to pair him with Luka Modric, with the idea being that their quality and experience will be pivotal.
The midfield, with Youssouf Fofana and at least one of the other signings that Milan are aiming for (Adrien Rabiot, Javi Guerra and Ardon Jashari above all), is beginning to look like more of a complete picture.
Supply and demand
The road to Xhaka, however, is not downhill. After losing coach Xabi Alonso and pillars such as Tah, Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz, Leverkusen want to hold on to Xhaka, to whom it intends to entrust the leadership of the team.
Erik Ten Hag – their new head coach – is ready to make it his personal mission to convince him to stay. For this reason, Milan want to move early. They will start with an offer of around €10m plus bonuses, which is much less than the Bundesliga side want despite the Swiss turning 33 in September.
In the meantime, the Germans are pushing for Thiaw, who is needed for the Champions League squad list following the sales of two German youth products in Tah and Wirtz. Malick’s valuation for Bayer is €20m plus bonuses, while Milan asked for €35m last summer.
Genius stuff as usual. Sacrifice one of the best young centre backs around for an over the hill midfielder.
Laughable
Money from tijjani would not for budget this summer. They use to revenue last season. It means Milan have no money for buy new player with huge amount ??
But why give up the UCL for Milan? How true is the news that he’d like to come to Milan?
Washed up, almost 33 albanian is a “chosen one”, wtf is this?