In other positions, there are still some question marks about who AC Milan will sign, but in midfield, it seems there is one candidate who is head and shoulders above everyone else, and that is Youssouf Fofana.
Throughout last season, questions arose about Milan’s midfield, specifically asking about the balance or lack of it, and whilst it was not seen as the primary reason for the season’s ending, it was certainly a contributing factor to a poor season.
Therefore, one of the primary aims of the summer is to sign a new defensive-minded midfielder, and with Paulo Fonseca wanting a more physical team, this was another consideration to take into account when looking at who to sign.
As a result, Fofana quickly rose to the top, and both parties are infatuated with one another, with the Frenchman informing Monaco that he would like to join the Rossoneri.
On his X account, Fabrizio Romano has strengthened this, and he has stated that following personal terms being agreed, there is no doubt in the midfielder’s mind. However, the Rossoneri are unwilling to pay the asking price of €30 million.
Nevertheless, there is confidence that this figure can be lowered, and they have tried to with their first offer, given the midfielder only has a year left on his contract, and he is unwilling to sign a new deal with the Ligue 1 club.
I think there will be problems with the acquisition of Fofana ! They simply persistently try to get a player below any realistic price. Sometimes such a tactic pays off, but if you have the ideal player for the position you need to cover and you have agreed all the terms with him, why do they keep risking the failure of the transfer and wasting the time that the player has to spend due to adaptation to a new way of working!? Especially if there are other clubs who will want to pay the asking price. This is getting frustratin.
Because 5m difference in price on 3 players adds up to another signing that we couldn’t otherwise make.
It is definitely frustrating, especially risking not getting the team together until the week before the season starts, but I do understand why.
The issue is that every club now knows they can get inflated figures from mid table English clubs instead, so they also are holding out for the maximum possible.
After the break in talks with Zirkzee’s agent, it’s good to know that the management is pressing hard on other targets. The key is negotiating a reasonable price with the clubs, without paying too much. If they can get their main targets, we are good. I’m excited already, and I hope the management will not disappoint. Can’t fault them so much for the one we lost, because we don’t have so much money to spend, but, if they can tie up the other targets, that would be something worthy of commendation. Forza Milan!
With Morata instead of Zirkzee we more or less saved 25-30M€ of price difference, so we really have no excuse to start so low for our bidings and waste time making the player come late in best case scenario or losing him to higher bidder in worst case scenario.
If they really want those players, they will start with a price close to their actual value or… just pay the clubs you know.
Typical Milan attitude, result can go either way.