AC Milan are ready to make Theo Hernandez an offer to remain at the club and extend his deal, but it reportedly involves a pay cut.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) reports this morning, the club have made Theo a renewal offer. The reason is simple: to avoid the risk of a free transfer and regain some leverage when it comes to his future.
The current deadline – summer 2026 – plays in favour of the left-back, who in just over a year could freely choose his next destination. That could be the most ambitious on a technical level or the richest, given that there would be no transfer fee and only money to offer the player.
It is a situation that would also complicate the management of the last year of the his Milan contract, i.e. the 2025-26 season. This is why the club and Theo have spoken again: coincidence or not, for a few games Hernandez has been more involved in the game and less distracted.
There are still too few bright spots to erase a season made mostly of shadows. This is why the proposal to postpone the deadline is there but if the numbers of years increases, those of the salary decrease. It is the consequence of a season below par.
Why Milan’s offer is lower
Having arrived at Milan in July 2019, Theo ran so fast that he drags the whole group along. With his left-sided accelerations he overtook every opponent and is among the protagonists of the 2021-22 Scudetto.
It was the season of his first contract renewal: deadline pushed back to 2026, and a salary effectively tripled from €1.5m net per year to the current €4.5m. After more months as a protagonist, with Milan and with France, he asked for a much richer contract. At the levels of Rafael Leao’s €7m, to be clear.
The current season has inevitably compromised every negotiation. The list of controversial episodes is long: the cooling-break incident against Lazio, the punitive benches, the stolen and missed penalty versus Fiorentina.
Above all, what stands out is the red cards: one for protesting after that game in Florence, and then the one when he got a second yellow card for a dive against Feyenoord that effectively cost a Champions League place.
The captain’s armband was given to the Frenchman and then taken away. Despite everything, he would like to extend his experience in Milan: on the pitch he beat Maldini’s goal record and his two children were born here.
For better or for worse: when Theo was sprinting, the club had granted him a raise; today, after a season with the handbrake on, he will have to ‘settle’ for something less.
So they are effectively telling him, he is not wanted anymore and is being pushed out.
Idiots
Well you tell like that: Milan wants to remove him, but you can’t give payraise to player who flopped this season.
Only Reijnders and Pulisic played above expectations and should get pay raise. For season like this, aren’t all other players deserve pay cut ?
Maignan, Theo and all others in last year of contract can’t easily get payraise…
Including Gabbia… bring back Salaemakers, return Dia striker,buy Pellegrini from dem, sell Those. Buy those Parma Italian defenders or Domusso in Udinese.
Not really,
if they wanted him out, they can just not renew to him as it’s easier and I think most of us aren’t expecting a renewal anyways.
Because if they are proposing a renewal, even with a lower salary, Théo can theoritically accept and thus stay in this team beyond 2026 and they can’t then force him out or freeze him since he did accept their conditions and it would make them look bad.
Although you can claim this is a way to effectively shift the pressure and the blame on Théo, since you could say the management made an offer and it was Théo who will have to decide (and maybe this partner who seems to like Milan city will pressure him to accept).
But again all of this is speculation, we don’t even know if this article is trustworthy.
Literally cost Milan over 10 points this season SINGLE-HANDEDLY
The goals he scored doesnt make up for it, there’s plenty of LBs that can do that
Are they offering him a renewal or this is just the article speculating ?
Dumping it on Theo trying to push him out. Classic RedBird. Maybe they should do now the same with everyone who underperformed this season. Like 80% of the squad. F*ck these rotten, toxic, corporate clowns, the day they leave will be the happiest day in the history of this club.
It’s like watching Trump making a mess with his tariff “negotiations”. Pure idiocy
So you don’t understand football or tarrifs… Got it.
It’s tariff, and unlike the orange clown and his disciples I and most sane people understand tariffs very well.
Please explain to those who still don’t know, that when you put 100% tariffs or whatever the number is, it means you are taxing your own people and businesses out of existence.
Most of the morons over there still think it’s the other countries paying the tariff.
Quite hilarious to watch the lemmings fall
Yes, you don’t understand. The U.S. has been getting the raw end of trade deals for a long time now and it has destroyed the working class in the country. It was started by Clinton in the 90’s. What the big corporations figured out was that instead of making products here where they have to pay workers a decent wage and give them health benefits they could ship all their manufacturing jobs to places like China and Mexico where they use slave labor and child labor and then import them back here with these very favorable tariffs. Great for the CEO’s and for the business bottom line but terrible for all the workers who lost their jobs. The idea of raising the tariffs is that if you make it less favorable for these businesses to build elsewhere and import them back in, that they will actually start building things in their own country again which would be a very good thing for the working class. Some short term pain for long term gain if it works.
I understand shortsighted people can’t see that.
Yeah they should give Theo a pay rise and make him the highest paid player obviously then he can steal more penalties and argue more with opposition team WHILE THERE IS A MATCH GOING ON
You sound like an unhinged child who is upset that his favorite player is going to leave.
You use the word toxic, that would be the most accurate word to describe Theo’s behavior this season. He’s lazy, selfish, childish and has zero interest in playing defense. His attitude spreads throughout the team like a cancer. Time to cut it out.
I’m glad you enjoy this 250 million fiasco Gerry cooked. You’re the type of fan Gerry wants. Who swallows no matter what comes out.
Says the guy who wants to offer a new contract to a player who sabotaged our season.
Oh, that’s right, nothing is ever the player’s fault. If only Maldini was here to hold his hand everything would be better, right?
Keep worshipping these spoiled millionaire adult-babies.
Sabotaged our season..
Sure thing, he’s the main culprit. Not the ownership and management and their incompetency throughout 3 seasons. Not 80% of the team. Not mediocre coach these clowns hired. It’s Theo.
Open wide, Gerry’s taking a big one.
Yeah what would you call it? Deliberately undermining the coach. Disobeying the coach’s orders, stealing penalties away from your teammate (and missing), getting suspended for 2 games for arguing with the ref after the match, Getting thrown out of a must win Champions League game for throwing an opposing player to the ground and then diving in the box. And then just generally not making any kind of defensive effort whatsoever. He’s responsible for more conceded goals than the rest of the defenders combined. Is that the kind of leader you want on the team?
It’s amazing what people are willing to overlook for their favorite player.
The poor performances are excusable. The poor effort and attitude are not.
But yes, it’s definitely the owner’s fault that this supposed “professional” that he is paying millions of dollars to behaves like a petulant little child who can’t be bothered to give a full effort.
@Ted. I agree, after all he have done we blame him for one bad season. We fell off sense we won the Serie a, but this season even if we had Maldini it would be the same. We lose our identity when change our coach, we did find a better replacement. Most of the players struggle after that, and most of all management is like headless chickens who do not know how the run a team.
I hope this is just some fake article.
Milan has to respect their players. True, Theo has been mostly crap this season, but the guy has burnt himself for the club in the past seasons.
If not, we shouldn’t blame plays like Dollaruma and Kessie who bolt out on getting better offers.
Milan is respecting Theo by offering him a new contract – he really doesn’t deserve it. He has been terrible all season, he didn’t put any effort into playing and making Milan better. He actually cost us at least 10-15 points and he was the reason for champions league exit. Don’t talk about respect from Milan for a player who doesn’t respect the club.
Are these guys imbeciles or what?
In needs to sign Darwin Nunes team could made compromises , surely, in time when Bologna will uses Ndoye not at currently
Theo did absolutely nothing this season, he actually cost Milan at least 10 points single handedly and he was the reason they were knocked out of champions league. Offering less money is the right thing to do – let him work harder to earn more but until then, he isn’t worth it.
Statistically Theo was a worse FB than Emerson. Let that sink in…
Just get him out. The problems won’t be fixed as long as he is here. He was the teams number 1 problem this year.
Why lower his salary. Why not maintain
Good.
Milan should not pay champions league salaries for players that failed to qualify for champions league.
If Theo, then what about leao? What does he actually do on the pitch wearing the iconic number 10 jersey. U can’t disrespect two of your core first 11. Maignan was given a pay cut offer just cos he flopped for a while. All they want to do is go for a gamble player, offer him 1.2 million, hope he succeeds. If there is any one in Milan who should have a pay cut, then it should be those incompetent management who have destroyed this my beloved club. Players will always have ups n downs. Theo is one of the best in his position. Get rid of him, a bigger club will steal him. What has he to loose anyways, seeing bondo, sotil, Royal, a 35yr Walker, Loftus cheek, Abraham n a host of disappointed players to strengthen the team
I never trust news from GDS ( Gazetta), CDS ( Corriere) or la stampa . Better wait reliable source. They are not stupid offer theo below his salary now but will not offer salary equal leao salary. My prediction they only offer 5m euro nett, just small pay rise
They should offer Theo an extension at the same wages if only to gain leverage with other teams interested in buying him. His attitude is more of a risk to the team then his performance. His attitude can be like a cancer affecting the locker room and playing field if other players think like he does of being above the team. Theo is quick to yank on the team crest after scoring a goal but where is the hard work and on-field intelligence game in and game out? Theo doesn’t have the qualities to be a team leader. Forget about leading by example. If we want to witness the best from Leo, then sign and sell Theo.