MN: 4-5 more signings expected despite €60m spend – the roles and targets

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan have already completed five signings this summer but they are planning on making at least another four, a report claims.

Antonio Vitiello writes in his column for MilanNews that Milan have used the ‘painful’ sale of Sandro Tonali to raise their disposable income and sign three players inside 20 days for €20m each in Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic and Tijjani Reijnders.

The current expenses exceed €60m including bonuses but there will be ‘at least another 4-5 signings’ as per the journalist. The priorities at the moment are to close the deal for Yunus Musah of Valencia and then fix the attack.

The 20-year-old USA international is seen as the man who could come in and complete the department made up of Rade Krunic, Tommaso  Pobega, Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek, waiting for Ismael Bennacer who will be back around January.

The centre-forward issue is also being discussed with Mehdi Taremi having jumped to pole position, even surpassing Alvaro Morata, Gianluca Scamacca and Folarin Balogun (whose asking price is set very high by Arsenal).

Milan made an initial offer for Taremi of €15m but it was rejected with a new offer of around €20m expected, but he has one year of contract and is a non-EU player – excluding the possibility of signing Samuel Chukwueze – so the management will proceed within reason.

The problem with Chukwueze meanwhile remains the very high asking price of €35m that Villarreal wants for him him. Milan have also enquired about Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Chelsea but his salary demands are high.

Milan are negotiating to sign Arnaut Danjuma from Villarreal on a paid with an option to buy set at ‘a not too high figure’. The player is considered a wild card for the attack and a replacement for Ante Rebic, given he plays as a striker or left winger.

He can play on the right too if necessary, but Milan plan to sign another player for the right wing as they try to improve on the duo of Junior Messias and Alexis Saelemaekers.

Tags AC Milan Arnaut Danjuma Folarin Balogun Mehdi Taremi pierre-emerick aubameyang Samuel Chukwueze

47 Comments

      1. So pay 15 less for a guy that might be good for 2 or 3 year is better? Chuk will get you a return on that 35 and might be worth more if he is productive for us. The difference in price will be recouped. You can’t get players of his pedigree for 35 million at his age. It is expensive yes, regardless of how many years he has left, you fend away other teams from negotiating with him as a free agent. Thuram was 15 million in bonus fees, 6.5 million yearly. This kid is accepting way less in wages, is younger. So for a total outlay, it isn’t that far off. If you let him stay a season in Spain, he scores 13 goals and assists 10, his wage demands go into the 8 to 9 million per year range, with more competition so the signing bonuses will be outrageous. If we are sure about him, then stfu and pay the 35 million. Not signing him now is going to cost you more if you try to get him free. The 15 million euro transfer fee difference makes it more viable to sign the younger player regardless of the term left on his deal. Going ofr him later will be just as expensive but you loose a year of acclimatization and productivity from him.

        1. I am not saying he’s not a good signing. I’m saying it’s not smart business. I’d love to go back to him next summer for free. Or winter at a massive discount. Villarreal is high to ask this much.

        2. If he’s in his last year of a contract, you don’t spend 35 million. That’s crazy.

          Reality is they will come down later in the summer because they know it’ll be their last chance. We can try for him later in the summer.

          1. If no one else gets in the picture, they might still keep him. Having a player like him last season instead of Messias, without Juve being docked points could have been the difference between either a successful title defense or qualifying for Europe or losing 50 million of garanteed income. It could have been the difference between us making the finals instead of the semis and be humiliated by Inter. There is a descrepency in how much me earn in our domestic league based on our standings.

            If they establish he is required to qualify this season in Europe, they need money to replace him, they will only sell if they can get an amount to secure an equivalent player. If not, it might be better for them to loose him for no fee.

            That is why we kept Kessie etc, because we had no better options to replace them that year at a cost that was less or equivalent income we put in jeapordy by losing them at the start of the year.

            So on the basis of the difference having him in our lineup or theirs makes, the fee is fair.

          2. No. The fee is NOT fair for a player in the last year of his contract. And one that while seems like a great player, is largely untested in the Serie A. I like Chukwueze but not for that price. And you can hardly justify it, besides making predictions. And I wouldn’t make predictions when it comes to players.

          3. Yes it is, that is what they risk loosing him by selling him and what they need to replace him this summer, if they can’t replace him, they lose him and recoup the money they’d get from his sale with his performances.

            Find a player his age, with his attributes and record, then see how much clubs are asking for. A 26 year old free Agent with similar contributions signed for our rivals with a 15 million euro Bonus, 6m5 million a year for 5 years, plus performance bonuses to be added. That is 47.5 million euros for a clubless player. You want Chuk at 2 to 3 million euros on wages for 5 years, 15 million euros and 35 million euros in transfer fees, it is now or never, thay is a bargain compared to his open market value. 24 points in 50 games off the wings vs Thuram who had 18 in 30 in the middle. Even with teh 35 million euros, they are at the same price almost but Chuk ia younger

          4. He’s not worth 35 million at the last year of his contract. Period. I like the player, but you don’t pay that to a team demanding it in the last year of his contract. It’s simply not good business. And its not logical. You’re overrating the situation.

          5. The fact that he is in the last year of his contract is just incidental, if he fits get him and move on ‘indecision is worse then making a bad decision’.

            I dream of Leao & Theo on the left and Chuk and Singo on the right, imagine the pace, power and skill!!!

  1. 20 mill for a 31 year old is moronic especially since he played in the iranian league and the qatari league and sucked in both ! no team payed 5 million for this guy during his twenties , now cheap milan want to pay 20m when he is 31 ?!!! and give him a 4 year contract !!!!!

    1. Sucked in both? He was scoring double digits in both. I think it’s totally overpriced for a 30 year old, but don’t post half truths.

      1. his first iranian team let him go for free , his second iranian team let him go for free his third iranian team sold him for less than 0.5m to a qatari team where he average a goal every 199min played , impressive resume!
        btw he is 31 not 30 !

        1. You are showing his stats in Qatar and Iran, so why don’t also show, his stats in Portugal? Is Portugal also, some random Asian country like Qatar and Iran? It’s not that, we are signing a random Asian player, who has played in Asia all his life.. Half truth is dangerous, than a lie!

          1. feel free to talk about his stats in portugal and dont do my sin of half truths and talk about his stats in qatar and iran , also feel free to do your projection of how his stats will translate into the italian league …

        2. I mean Salah wasn’t popular when playing in Egyptian league, and we all know where he is now… With that said, while his stats with Porto are impressive, I’m not sure he can replicate that in the serie A, add to that the fact that he is old, and not the fast type.

        3. He scored double digits for Persepolis. Look it up. Also, why are you failing to look at Portugal? And his team that plays in the CL? He’s a late bloomer when it comes to a career.

        4. His career took off when he went to Rio Ave, but his stats for Persepolis were actually quite good. But that’s irrelevant. He’s a late bloomer. He exploded in Portugal, going to score double digits. Last season he had 31 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions, including the Champions League.

    1. Ted he is currently on loan at tigre untill december 31rst and they have an option to buy at an ammount in the vicinity of the 15 mil you mentioned but its safe to say if they activate that buy option they will only sell him for more in the event of incoming offers.

      1. As I know Genoa and Fiorentina are in discussion for him already, so I believe he’s available if bought out. It is also reported he can leave for a sum around 15 millions.

        1. That just doesnt make any sense that tigre buys him at that fee and then resell him at the same fee but we will see how it pans out but sure if he is available at such fee why not.

  2. Musah, Loftus Cheek, Reijndeers, Krunic, Pobega, Bennacer…. Even with Bennacer injured for the first half of the season, doesnt it kinda look like we have overbooking in that position?? I mean especially compared to other positions, like for example who’s going to be Leao’s substitute?? Origi and Rebic both seem poised to leave and even if they stay Pioli clearly does not trust any of them (and with very good reason). I haven’t heard any rumors about Milan searching for a player there, unless that’s what they want Lindstrom for?? although he does seem expensive for a substitute…

    1. Yeah that sub I feel is going to be Pulisic. i mean since it seems 4-3-3 is going to be the preferred formation for this upcoming season. I don’t see where Pulisic would fit other than the right wing. But since we are trying hard for a starting caliber RW like Chukw. I’m getting the feeling Pulisic isn’t going to be starting anytime soon. Hence me saying he’ll be Leao’s sub.

    2. Danjuma, Isaksen are both in consideration and can play LW. Also, if Saelemaekers stays he’s a lot better playing LW like he did part of last season.

  3. I wonder can we break 17/18s record of signing 15 new players…..

    That worked out well.

    Businesses often change 50% of their workforce at one time. Nothing to see here.

    Let’s gossip about which exciting new signings we can sign.

    1. Not for anything but do you think we’re fine as we are? We went from winning a scudetto to 4th place getting fourth from a technicality. Our midfield was outplayed in almost every game we played and the attack was too predictable.

      It was definitely a must to greatly reinforce the midfield and the reason for so many signings is the switch to a 4 3 3. As for attack, we had one striker in giroud who is over 35 and had messias and saelemaekers playing on the right which I couldn’t bear to see. These are guys that no matter what we do they’re not going to get better. So are you satisfied with having guys that can’t raise the level? You reference company’s. Does a shop keep a car mechanic when he’s too slow and doesn’t know what he’s doing? No he gets replaced. That’s what’s happening here and we certainly needed reinforcements for the mid and attack.

      Whether these are the right guys is a different story, time will tell on that. But all I know is the names of vranckx, bakayoko, saelemaekers, messias, origi, CDK and others were not up to the task.

      The team proved to be mediocre and you say not to change. So do you want to continue fighting for a 7-4 position or do you want to be scudetto challengers and make it to the knockouts of the Champions League every year?

      1. We needed 2-3 signings max: a CM, AM and CF, and prioritising a CM if we couldn’t afford the other two positions.

        We finished 4th because we couldn’t beat Spezia, Cremonese – twice, Empoli and Lecce.

        Our record against our nearest rivals was impressive including being unbeaten against the Champions in four encounters.

        We didn’t beat the weaker teams because Pioli rotated 8-9 players for a single Serie A match. If you went to work tomorrow and your manager decided to switch around half the team let’s see how productive you’ve been.

        The vast majority of transfers end in failure. Players do not perform at the same level for their new teams because it’s very difficult to recreate the same conditions. It’s got nothing to do with ability. Players rarely reach their ability with this level of turnover.

        Nearly every transfer we made last season was failure but that same goes for most of the THOUSANDS of players transferred across the 98 teams in the top 5 leagues. That’s THOUSANDS of transfers involving just 98 teams.

        1. But once again even when we didn’t rotate heavily, it showed we had no depth, it showed the midfield was completely over run every game. Maybe it had to do with tactics and formations but too many times were tonali and bennacer caught out of position and there was a huge gap in the middle.

          For the attack we had to rely on giroud who did extremely well but should never be under those circumstances of having to play a full 90 every 3 days. Leao had no suitable back up either, we never had a real attacking midfielder and the right wing was just horrrible.

          I’m not saying to change the whole starting 11 but we definitely needed midfield and attack reinforcements and with subs.

          Diaz, rebic, messias, zlatan, origi, saelemaekers, CDK all needed to be replaced. They unfortunately offered next to nothing last season. I’d give saelemaekers and cdk another try and saelemaekers is decent for depth but like I said, to take the next level of being able to contend for the serie a and be in the knockouts of cl the reinforcements had to be made. We did well against the big 6 teams but we never also won convincingly except napoli.

          1. It’s not about “depth” or “quality”.

            If you had a kitchen full of world class chefs and you decided to “rotate” them all on the exact same night the chances are it’d be a disaster.

            Man City didn’t have “depth” when they rotated their entire team in the league cup.

            No team has that level of “depth”.

            The issue is you and most people can’t see past the transfer market “buzz”, which isn’t helped by the fact that the media won’t scrutinise anything (including the corruption and incompetence) because it helps boost content.

            None of this is normal. This doesn’t happen in any other team sport or business. It’s total madness and it’s destroying the game.

        2. Ya but I’m not saying to go out and get 15 players or to rotate the full 11. But don’t tell me we didn’t need to reinforce the team. We had 0 depth because maybe 1 guy would come off the bench that I felt comfortable with either closing off or changing a game. The rest are just bodies. So yes we needed maybe 2-3 signings to start and some decent subs.

          I agree that too many changes disrupts the team but I’m now asking you, are you satisfied to have players we had playing for us last season? Can you bear to watch messias, saelemaekers and others every game?

          We had no back up to giroud. Rebic who was always a purchase for depth suddenly becomes a starter in the big games. So how can they not make changes to change this team? We lost 3 players from end of loan and tonali to sale. They seem to want to be offloading many players that are now no longer needed and create a solid group with a ‘smaller’ team as you’ve said many times before that 25 people is too much. We have at least 10 guys right now that are not good enough for milan. Few of them starters.

    2. We aren’t signing players for the sake of it and are focusing on the base we have. Leao as an example.

      If Maldini signed 15 players you’d be celebrating in the streets.

      1. I would be completely opposed to that and I think Maldini signed two many players.

        Had we signed half the players we did last season the players we did sign would’ve stood a chance.

        Had we just signed one of Adli or CDK then that would’ve given one of them more time on the pitch.

        Every transfer is disruptive to the squad and other players. That’s why you need to do this thing called prioritising. But modern football just churns through players like their cattle. Sorry cattle you keep to graze for a few years.

    1. Because we are finally SPENDING $$$$….. this is what we needed. A 100M transfer kitty.

      Keep spending Georgio- as they say you have to spend money to make money.

      Let’s see if they can SELL some players as well. Easy to buy when you finally have $$, not so easy to sell players that don’t want to leave or are not that highly coveted.

      1. Yea that’s always been our problem even in Galliani times. It’s a problem for any club, getting rid of dead weight. I’m surprised at the amount of money they’re still willing to spend. It’s def not in line with years past when they kept haggling. I’m like when did they loosen the purse strings

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