Despite the rumours that have arisen regarding other targets, Youssouf Fofana is still in AC Milan’s sights to strengthen the midfield and they have reportedly raised their bid.
According to the latest from Sky, the Milan management have increased their offer to Monaco to €12m plus bonuses but the French club are continuing to ask for a figure of €18m in order to sell.
The gap between the clubs is therefore narrowing though, and they are aiming to close the deal as early as next week. It seems like it will just take a bit of extra effort from the Rossoneri to get things over the line.
The French midfielder, whose contract expires in 2025, is returning from the European Championship with his national team and would join his team-mates Theo Hernandez and Mike Maignan in Milan.
The report also states that a meeting is scheduled in the next few hours with the father-agent of Lazar Samardzic, who would not be an alternative to the Frenchman but rather an additional piece. The Rossoneri management will meet with Samardzic senior to see if the negotiation can go ahead.
In the meantime, contacts are also continuing with Red Bull Salzburg for Strahinja Pavlovic, and if the Serbian were to not arise then the free agent Mario Hermoso could. Finally, Niclas Fullkrug of Borussia Dortmund remains a target.
I think the agreement can be reached at around 15m. And I hope it will be soon.
Romano reported that we intensified contact with Fofana and Pavlovic, so hopefully we get those three soon. Maybe this weekend?
By three I mean, Fofana, Pavlovic and Samardzic.
It’s weekend already, maybe by next week things could have been more sorted out nd we can be assured of there arrivals, however I trust this management to do there best for MILAN as they began last season, meanwhile in another news to the so called anti MILAN/management, no money is coming in from Atalanta via CDK until next season, so if we are able to complete all this targeted signings Y’all club haters can shut up instead of waging Y’all silly tongues saying management only spent from players sales e.g Tonali, as much as greedy yall call this management despite all CDK did at Atalanta they still wanted a discount, this is a small club that as a lower salary structure nd does nt have anything compared to MILAN expenditure, despite having made lots of money from players sales, they will not buy players at ridiculous figures they will prize players at the figure they think it’s appropriate nd buyer and seller can meet on a reasonable grounds, however some stupid fans here want MILAN To be stupid like MAN UTD buying Yoro for over €50m, all that concerns them is that MILAN should just shell out money the the likes of Chelsea nd Co. Very stupid fans, Yohong Li spent €250m and won nothing for MILAN but only put us in more trouble that resulted in bans from UEFA competitions, All of a sudden Elliot is better than Red bird, when infact the only different is Gerry Cardinale, the same people that where operating then are still there now.
Well said bro well said 🤝
Neither here nor there wrt spending high or low. But going into every season Atalanta doesn’t HAVE.a duty to win. The stakes are higher for us.
And in terms of the same ppl before and after Gerry, that’s not true. Gazidis was the one mostly in charge of clearing the books, our revenue CEO is also gone (can’t recall his name) and those were two major changes (and ofc in how we deal with transfers which in turn affect the books).
You are such a comedian, the last I recall it is Elliot than brought GAZIDIS on board nd the so called revenue collector is Casper Stylsvig, both where hired by Elliot, there where the ones that introduced salary caps nd insisted Milan won’t buy players for ridiculous fees, and that trend as been followed since, it was GAZIDIS that hired Fularni and Moncanda, both of whom you ignorant hate, this same operation system as been followed till now, the only person that want MILAN To spend crazy money was Leonardo, nd that was the same trend Maldini want to follow because that was his teacher and I hope Y’all ve seen how a failure is Leonardo as a director he continued his mess at PSG, Nedved alhad a vice president role at Juventus, Zanetti as a similar role at Inter there where note deciding or forcing there opinions on Co Profesionals, bt immediately they told our dearest legend Maldini to move to a ceremonial role like those legends he turned it down, he started acting as if he us a professional in that role, the same role when they gave you you confessed you know nothing about and you will humbly learn from Leonardo before you can improve, a role had to be coined because of him, that role that never existed in football just because they want to put him Maldini on board, this are the same Americans you fans are now hating on, if there was anybody that should have hired Maldini for any job it should have been Berlusconi and Galliani, after Maldini resigned for 8 years Galliani nd Berlusconi never considered Maldini for any role at the club because they know him better than anyone, however if Maldini want to show Elliot and Redbird how to run a club with is stake at Miami FC, Maldini was never a trained scout, was never a trained director, he did not train for any executive role however the so called Americans gave him a job. He Maldini took credit for bringing in Theo, however it was Moncada that had a scouting profile on Theo, all Maldini had to do was talk to Theo and every other targets the only 2players Maldini claimed to have watched them playing was Messias nd Castillejo, nd Ballo toure was an Idea of Massara, Maldini was nd will always remain a legend and we will remain forever grateful but we need to respect those people that where around him, they are professionals in there fields.
Let’s close these quickly. We saved by not getting Zirkzee, so let’s not be stingy. We want these players to start training ASAP
They will all be on vacation the next 2 weeks because of the Euro, so thats why the management arent rushing the signings and take their time negotiating prices.
They wont start training earlier regardless of if we sign them today, or in 10 days. All will be in Milan at the beginning of august after a 2 week vacation. This goes for Fofana, Pavlovic, Samardzic and Fullkrug who all was at the Euros.
But I would also preferr that they close these deals sooner rather then later so someone else doesnt swoop in and steal them…
“But I would also preferr that they close these deals sooner rather then later so someone else doesnt swoop in and steal them…”
That’s also the worrying part since we already lost players this way.
Pavlovic and Samardzic probably will be back sooner because Serbia didn’t progress from their group.
Is Monaco asking for 18M€ ? Previous reports had them asking for 25M€. If they indeed decrease their demand, even with a stingy ownership like ours I can see this deal getting closed hopefully in the next week.
Yeah sum big signings there
Fofana is a beast in midfield
Pavlovian a beast at the back
And flkrug a German beast up front
Morata is a decent pickup to
Keep maignan theo & Leao
Yeah scudetto here we go
in your dreams. those players are bang average. non of them have done anything for you to determine they could challenge a team like inter.
I hope the managment fail and all these players are bust
#CARDINALE OUT
Your obviously not a Milan fan just a frustrated nobody hoping that the management fail just to satisfy your stupid fragile ego
They fired Maldini bro. It’s ok for a Milan fan to be unsatisfied with this management.
It’s one thing to be unsatisfied with this management or to wish for them to be gone, but to wish for them and the players to fail which means Milan will fail is a step too far.
You don’t wish for your club to lose just so you can “prove a point”.
Not particularly happy with the way Maldini and Massara were dismissed. It should’ve definitely been done in a more respectful manner. But they had their fair share of mistakes.
We should’ve never dropped out from the race for Szoboszlai to take Brahim Diaz on loan was a mistake.
Letting go of Manuel Locatelli was a mistake.
Bringing back Bakayoko instead of bidding for Enzo Fernandez was a mistake.
Giroud instead of Julian Alvarez was a mistake.
And don’t get me started on contract situations with Donnarumma, Hakan, Kessie and Romagnoli.
Look, Maldini is a Milan legend, but he wasn’t a perfect sporting director. Ya’ll need to grow up.
Madrid broke ties with Ancelotti after he won the champions league for them, after years of being in the doldrums. He rejected an offer from his own former club, Milan. Do we make him an enemy just because of that? They brought him back, and now, he has won the Champions league twice in three seasons. Even Maldini doesn’t hate the club because of the way he was treated; management come, management go, the club remains. I felt bad about the way Seedorf, Boban, and Maldini were booted out, but, it’s all a part of the game. Tuchel won Chelsea the Champions league, yet, the new management did not give him a second chance after one disappointing season. We have to live with it.
Then you are simply not a Milan fan.
Dude , for your health mentality better go support other team . You can curse owner but to hope ACM fail , what you get from that ??? Did you get happy with that ? It is not like your life changed even if ACM fail or success
The midfield is still light though. What do you do if Fofana is injured or missing ? Back to square 1 with no one to defend. Also Fofana isn’t a “true” DM, he often times play with more defensive profiles.
Pavlovic is a good choice IMO, even though I’d like the management to put more trust in our home products (Gabbia and Simic).
We don’t need 2 31y/o strikers with big salary. Since we got Morata, we need another profile rather than Fulkrug.
Assuming best scenarios, I don’t know if we can win the scudetto (with Juve and Napoli likely to have improved and Inter still the strongest) but we should aim for the region of 90 points.
Simic is not Youth Sector Product, he is bought from Stutgart to play for primavera just like Noah, Jimenez, etc
Thanks for correcting me.
I still think he should be given a chance though.
Yup, i also hope for that with Fonseca arrival. But with his high salary demand i dont think they will keep him just to leave for free next season
We still have Reijnders and Bennacer. My guess is that if Fofana is fit and can play Fonseca will use the 4-3-3 lineup with a regista and two mezzalas. Like Reijnders-Fofana- RLC with Reijnders higher up like he played in the Euros for The Netherlands, and Fofana as a static dmf just infront of the centerbacks.
If Fofana isnt available I think Fonseca will play 4-2-3-1 with Reijnders and Bennacer in the double pivot because neither is strong enough defensively on their own as lone dmf, so he will want two there to protect the back line, at the cost of some offensive power.
It will be interesting to see if he dares to play 4-3-3 without Fofana and just have Bennacer there. Concidering they are just looking for one solid dmf and then opting for players like Rabio or Samarszic who are mezzalas, that seem very plausable at this moment (and might be a big misstake).
Fofana and Bennacer as the dmfs.
Reijnders, RLC, Samardzic and Adli or Pobega (assuming one of them will be sold) as mezzalas.
Thats a very strong midfield. But one could argue that selling Adli to make room for Samardzic, and then sell Bennacer to a Saudi team and use that money to buy another solid dmf like Fofana would make the team even stronger, and better suited for 4-3-3?
The thing is, during the last 2 seasons, wether with France or with Monaco, Fofana pretty much always played in a 4-2-3-1, a 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 or even a flat 4-4-2. The rare times he played in a 4-3-3 he was used as an 8 rather than a 6 and it was in front of either Tchouaméni or Kanté (who are massive defensively wise). And even in the double pivot systems of Monaco, he was always paired with either Zakaria or Camara, who have very good defensive stats and won more duels percentage wise than him. There is one (1) game during the last 2 seasons where in a 4-2-3-1, he was paired with Rabiot and it was against Greece and the game ended in a draw.
So it begs the question how well he will do if we use a 4-3-3 (since Reijnders, Loftus-Cheek and Musah were brought for a 4-3-3) and if we maintain a 4-2-3-1, who is this “defensive profile” who can play alongside him ? Bennacer is our best midfielder defensively wise but tends to crumble against physically imposing opponents and is prone to injury. Adli has good defensive stats but is too error prone and has a slow decision making. RLC is too lazy to play as a double-pivot and Musah is too unproven and too green.
The 4-2-3-1 with only Bennacer, Reijnders and Adli has proven to be unreliable against solid teams.
So that’s why I think we need 2 defensive profiles and perhaps one who can play as a 6 in a 4-3-3.
this! 👆 It’s the reason why I said we need more than 1 DM and yes even with Fofana we’ll still be lightweight on the defence aspect of midfield.
I can’t emphasize giga how well written your post is and how much ppl should pay attention
Great post.
Yeah. They should buy 5 midfielder to cover Fofana. Mikan has tight budget and there are a lot of midfielders in Milan. They plan to bought him to fill a role. There are other positions more urgent to be filled or upgraded.
If Fofana injured, then the coach has to make adjustment to his tactic with players in his disposal.
Now that Milan has Tequila they can afford to raise the offer to 15 millions and close the deal 😁.
In a week we’ll up our bid to 14M. Meanwhile, a mid-table EPL club will pop up with 22M cash and off Fofana will go.
When the deal is done for 18 million people here can go whine on elsewhere. Now that Pavlovic is on the verge moving, the same people saying we can’t do anything will be saying we’re disrupting things too much lol
For most on here Milan is in a Catch 22. No matter what they do it’s always wrong.