As seems to happen during every summer transfer window, the issue of non-EU slots will impact which targets AC Milan move for and who it rules out.
Ever since the year 2002, there has been a regulation in place regarding Serie A clubs and how many non-EU players they are allowed to register per season. You might be wondering how this affects Milan, so we explained the rules a few months back.
According to MilanNews, the Emerson Royal idea seemed to have cooled down in recent weeks for Milan, but negotiations now seem to have reignited between the clubs with the possibility emerging once again that the right-back could arrive.
The report confirms that Royal is a non-EU citizen after some checks that they carried out, so he would take one of the two free slots that Milan currently have, given the only signing – Alvaro Morata – did not take one.
If Milan were to sign the Brazilian then that would leave one spot free for another non-EU player. Thus, both Strahinja Pavlovic (Serbian, a non-EU country) and Richard Rios (Colombian) could not both join.
Lazar Samardzic is also Serbian but Serie A rules state that if he makes a move from another Italian club then he does not count towards the two available slots.