AC Milan have renewed their attempts to sign André from Corinthians and have raised their bid, according to a report from Brazil.
To try and summarise the André saga briefly, Milan thought they had an agreement to sign the teenage midfielder as of a few weeks ago, with documents having been signed. Then the Corinthians president blocked things right at the end, leading to talk of possible legal action through FIFA.
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Things went cool until ESPN Brasil claimed that Milan have indicated that they will return with a new proposal to try get things over the line. Then, the club CEO Giorgio Furlani was confirmed to have met his agent at Casa Milan.
Milan raise the stakes
According to ESPN Brasil, the Rossoneri have indeed improved their offer to €22m in total. It is €18m as the fixed fee plus €4m in performance-related bonuses for 70% of the economic rights of the player, which belong to Corinthians.
The young midfielder, it’s worth remembering, remains willing to give up his 30% stake in the deal (including his economic rights). However, he will not be making any push behind the scenes to be sold.
According to the source, Milan’s latest offer has been on Corinthians’ table since the beginning of last week and there has been no concrete response. This is because, on the Brazilian side, there is no rush to move forward.
In their last attempt to sign André, the Diavolo reached a verbal agreement with a large part of the Corinthians management, but in the final stages of negotiations their president Osmar Stabile vetoed the transfer for €17m.
The 19-year-old has a valid contract with Corinthians until December 2029. Since being promoted to the first team, he has played 28 official matches and scored four goals, and there is talk of interest from other top European clubs.
This is dense. Again, who’s in charge of the mercato? Allegri has asked neither for Kostic nor for Andre.
Things like this that make me suspect the summer mercato will be no different than the previous ones. There’s no plan or direction. Just flip opportunities.
Well, they still need to buy players for the Milan Futuro team. These are young players who can transition to the 1st team.
If we look at the profiles of these players they are around 18-19yrs old and are already playing in the first team for their current clubs.
22M€ seems like a lot of a Futuro player. If he’s purchased, I think it will be for the first team.
I don’t mind him on the long run, but I think we also need players who can make an immediate impact.
This is not a Futuro player. This is a top talent that would be already a regular starter in most of Serie A teams.
Such a shortsighted view.
Lets not sign young and talented players because of what the current coach who might not be our coach in 18 months wants old and experienced players.
Now thats dense.
Managements think long term, coaches think only short term.
Kostic is being hired for Milan Futuro, not for the first team, so what Allegri thinks of him is irrelevant. In the future, if and when Kostic upgrades to the first team, most likely Allegri won’t even be the coach any longer.
As for André, the thought is one of potential for future development. The price tag suggests that he is primarily being sought for the first team so you’d have a point regarding André and Allegri, but even int his case, it is unlikely that he will have an immediate impact for the first team, as he probably would be bought and either shipped to Futuro temporarily, or to a loan. He is still very young.
This said, 22 M for such a young player (19), even if he’s being considered for future business (that is, developing him and then selling him for more than that), is a risky move. Going from a South American league to one of the top European leagues, even for talented players, is not guaranteed to succeed given that there are several adaptation factors to consider.
See for example the case of Kaio Jorge. He was bought by a Serie A club but flopped badly, and then returned to Brazil, where he rapidly became the top scorer for both the top domestic league (Brasileirão) and for the domestic cup (Copa do Brasil) which is a lot more prestigious there than Coppa Italia is in Italy. So, that’s an example of a player who is actually very good, but couldn’t get adapted to Europe.
There is an example of a very young player who came from Brazil and had an immediate impact for his European club, Chelsea. That’s Estêvão. However, we are talking about a player who is currently the top scorer for Brazil’s national team, and who will be a starter in the upcoming World Cup.
Estêvão is a quite unique, generational talent. He is a lot more in the talent order of magnitude of a Yamal, than an André. André is no Estêvão. So, in my opinion, paying 22 M for André is a bit risky. Still, clubs do bet on some youngsters who seem to have potential. Sometimes, those clubs get lucky and the young player fulfills his potential. Some other times, those clubs get unlucky and the young player is a flop. In what category André will be, remains to be seen.
Big mistake this boy is rubbish he is another mussah with less technique
True!
He would struggle in any of the top 4 Leagues in europe guaranteed!
Rossoneri that’s for sure
If true this confirms that milan’s management is one whole big mess.
When we all know that we need a good striker, we read that milan is chasing another midfielder when besides the ones who play regularly we have ricci and jashari who both are very good players.
When we then read that milan have signed a 19 year old forward whom we never heard of before, then you just give up.