Gianluigi Donnarumma is one of AC Milan’s most important players and with his contract at the San Siro expiring at the end of the season, tough months await the Rossoneri. The management will be looking to renew the goalkeeper’s contract, but agent Mino Raiola will be a tough nut to crack
And this fact can also be confirmed by the former sporting director of the Rossoneri Massimiliano Mirabelli, who was in charge of the technical area of the club when Donnarumma lastly renewed his contract at the club in 2017.
The director spoke to Telelombardia (via pianetamilan.it) about the current situation with regards to Donnarumma and also revealed an interesting background story about his negotiations with Raiola.
“In my opinion, Donnarumma is among the three best goalkeepers in the world and is represented by one of the best agents in the world,” he said.
“The difficulties are there today, as they were yesterday. When we were there, it was more difficult, because we had just arrived and there was this problem right away, the contract was close to expiry.
“I am amazed that Milan, which had so much time to close a deal, have been reduced to negotiating when the contract expires in 9 months. It is one thing to face a problem like us, with a difficult agent, when there are three years left and another thing is to tackle a problem of this type when there are a few months before the contract expires.
“In my opinion, whatever happens, Raiola will have won. He will make a big splash both in case of renewal and in case of non-renewal.”
Furthermore, the 51-year-old disclosed the contents of the first meeting he had with Raiola back in 2017. Mirabelli also pointed out the strengths of the agent as well as the problem of the release clause which was also addressed during his management three years ago.
“My first meeting with Raiola for Donnarumma? It lasted five minutes. He told me that he had not renewed with his friend Galliani and therefore it was not possible to renew with us, since he did not know us,” Mirabelli added.
“Dealing with Raiola is difficult. He is one of the best in the world, he also likes to do a show. He manages to get the most for both his clients and himself.
“The release clause requested by him? We managed to remove it. We didn’t have any conditioning. Milan could decide the player’s future. We could have also sold him,” he concluded.