There have been numerous reports in the Spanish media in recent days regarding Atletico Madrid’s surprise at the way AC Milan carried out the Alvaro Morata operation, and further background has now emerged.
It was firstly Diario AS who claimed that Atletico were left surprised by how things played out, in particular that Morata told them he was leaving a day before he signed with Milan despite the fact it seemed to be common knowledge in the media.
Then, Marca stated that Milan triggering the €13m release clause was ‘a course of action that caused quite a surprise’ at the Madrid club because they had not made clear to them their intentions or their actions until they happened.
However, MilanNews report that Milan’s side of the story is very different to the version put forward over in Spain. Milan informed Atletico Madrid of their interest in Morata and asked the management of Los Colchoneros if there was the possibility of negotiating the price and payment methods.
This is completely normal in a negotiation and Atletico, for their part, asked Milan for €16m to agree to a payment of that sum in instalments, a bit like what happened between Manchester United and Bologna for Joshua Zirkzee.
In that case United agreed to pay a bit more than the price of the clause (€45m as opposed to €40m) so that they could do so over a number of years rather than having to pay it all up front as a lump sum, which is what a release clause formally requires.
The Rossoneri management, once they understood Atletico’s position, informed the intermediaries that they would proceed with the payment of the clause, demonstrating not only that they have no problems in satisfying the Spaniards’ immediate request, but also that they have a certain solidity in terms of cash flow.
Wow such an economic effort to pay 12 million clause.. Imagine if we have to pay 30 – maybe we will ask to pay it in 5 year instalments 🤡
Tell me you know nothing about how football club works without telling you know nothing about how football club works
“The Rossoneri management, once they understood Atletico’s position, informed the intermediaries that they would proceed with the payment of the clause, demonstrating not only that they have no problems in satisfying the Spaniards’ immediate request, but also that they have a certain solidity in terms of cash flow.”
That’s very reassuring, we are indeed capable of paying 13M€ in one go rather than paying 16M€ over many years.
That indeed demonstrate a solid and stable financial situation !!
All Oliver Fisher articles are just BS