AC Milan wanted to try and get a deal done for Alessandro Buongiorno, but Torino have put up a wall and it looks as though their plans will have to change accordingly.
As our colleagues at SempreMilan.it report, Milan are big admirers of Buongiorno and have been in talks over him for several weeks, with the first verbal offer being made in recent days.
That bid was €15-18m in cash (dependent on things like add-ons) plus Lorenzo Colombo on a permanent deal and Jan-Carlo Simic on loan as two counterparts.
However, Torino’s president Urbano Cairo declared that Buongiorno is not for sale this month and it seems that this is no bluff, rather he is standing very firm.
It is a declaration that inevitably had repercussions, given that the management were working on an agreement with the player who could have signed a contract worth €2m net per season until 2028.
Buongiorno will eave the door open to a transfer in the Rossoneri for the summer when the club will also likely see some players leave, but for now the strategy has to change.
The January need
The urgency of bolstering the centre-back department remains, as Stefano Pioli confirmed during his press conference before the win against Roma on Sunday night.
With the idea of signing Buongiorno gone, the alternative that remains in the minds of Geoffrey Moncada and Antonio D’Ottavio is the name of Tanguy Nianzou, who is expected to leave Sevilla.
The Frenchman is not getting much playing time with the Andalusian club: he has played 319 minutes, also due to various physical problems that kept him away from the field for around 16 games.
These fitness problems are likely to worry the Milan directors too, because they don’t need the treatment room getting more full given that Pierre Kalulu, Fikayo Tomori and Malick Thiaw are all out.
Three options from England are being evaluated: Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea and Lloyd Kelly of Bournemouth. The former isn’t getting many minutes while the latter is on an expiring deal.
Sky’s Manuele Baiocchini threw another name back into the hat today, as he stated (via MilanNews): “Milan could sign a player on loan with an option to buy which, if it were not too high, means they would buy him if he did well otherwise he would be returned to his parent club at end of the season. An example could be Kiwior from Arsenal, who is very popular.”
The summer route
Regarding Lloyd Kelly, there are whispers of an agreement already reached between the Milan management and his entourage ahead of the summer over a contract until 2028 with a salary of €2.8m net per season, but we do not have any confirmation from either side on that.
In addition to Kelly, Milan could of course try again for Buongiorno at the end of the season when it may be considered a more appropriate time for the Italy international to make the leap to a top club.
Given that talks have been held with his agent Beppe Riso already – with whom relations are excellent – plus the offer of cash plus Colombo and Simic was put forward, in the summer some adjustments could mean an agreement is reached.
There is, of course, another possibility: Milan could also decide to directly postpone their investment on a central defender until the summer, this waiting for Kalulu, Tomori and Thiaw while leaning on resources like Matteo Gabbia and Simic.
Hold off on a stop gap winter CB and pull the trigger on Mr. Good Morning in the summer.
This.
You want a player you pay for him. There are no setbacks only negotiation.
15-18M is a pathetic offer 2 be honest. CBs like Buongiorno do go for 30+ and he did just sign a new deal in july. How much would we ask for Thiaw or Kalulu?
Yes your right, moneyball doesn’t get you highly rated young CBs….Torino aren’t stupid. Moneyball is the
Yes, it seems like a worth 30-35 mil purchase.
Aerials won:
–
Dragusin 58
Bremer 52
Buongiorno 51
Acerbi 40
Bastoni 20
Tomori 17
Interceptions:
–
Buongiorno 42
Bremer 25
Acerbi 23
Dragusin 22
Tomori 19
Bastoni 13
Tackles won:
–
Buongiorno 24
Bremer 21
Bastoni 20
Tomori 19
Dragusin 11
Acerbi 11
Clearances:
–
Dragusin 88
Bremer 80
Buongiorno 71
Tomori 50
Acerbi 42
Bastoni 24
Balls recovery:
–
Bremer 99
Boungiorno 86
Tomori 78
Acerbi 71
Bastoni 67
Dragusin 62
Pass%
–
Tomori 91%
Acerbi 89.6%
Bastoni 87.2%
Bremer 86.1%
Boungiorno 83.8%
Dragusin 82.3%
Goals + assists
–
Boungiorno 3
Tomori 3
Dragusin 3
Acerbi 2
Bremer 1
Bastoni 0
Errors:
–
Dragusin 3
Tomori 1
Acerbi 0
Bremer 0
Bastoni 0
Boungiorno 0
Well… Gotta admit. Impressive stats for him.
So we’ve missed out on signing the guy we want.
How about we give the opportunity to the 23 year old we signed from Argentina 6 months ago?
No, to the Italian boy Batreshagi.
I can understand not relying on a kid who is 193cm tall and who has only just turned 18.
Soccer is one of the few sports that does not seem to factor height into the delay in physical maturity that is a reality for tall kids.
It takes a longer time to build strength and stamina in a way that allows the player to retain or improve speed and agility. It’s all tied in with the extent of functional weight increase that is required.
I’d love to see Bartesaghi play but I think the 90 minutes a week he should be able to get on loan in the Serie B would be more beneficial at this stage (than bit part roles in the Serie A).
Pellegrino, on the other hand, is physically mature. He is the guy we signed because because he was considered better than the likes of Calafiori, Terracciano and Marcandalli (just to take 3 names in a similar price range but with actual experience in the Italian system).
It begs the question, if a 23 year old Pellegrino cannot be trusted, should the bozo(s) that signed him over local talent that was within everyone’s sight be trusted with signing the next shiny new thing?
Pellegrino is 21 not 23
Oops.
He should still be played.
How about just Simic? The guy who has impressed in every appearance and even scored on his full debut?
But he’s from our academy. We are going to sell him for profit. This is the way.
Simic is goin to be 80m defender. But we will sell him for 15 not giving him any play time. This is the way, indeed.
Don’t force new signing, must get a quality cb. Same goes to Striker.
I’m not saying he would’ve been a flop but not worth 40M. Transfermrkt has him at 20M. It the Italian tax
sign only better than the best we have (upgrade) or not at all,
buy 1 or 2 is enough, we are lack in quality (use the primavera’s as quantity solution)
This was all smoke and mirrors IMO.
We never had any intention to buy Buongiornio – and at at 40M valuation I’m glad we didn’t. We aren’t spending 40M on a CB – heck we can’t even do that for a starting #9 – so we are supposed to believe we will do it for a CB. This was all PR stunt – distract us from the need to get a striker. No more talk of Guirassy, Adams, etc….all available for relatively reasonable fees. Oh ya we have Jovic so we are good lol.
So no new striker and no CB. Not surprising. We have a solid grip on 3rd place & barring a collapse, should secure top 4 – so why spend the $$$ now? This is money ball. No 40M players. No January transfer spends. Gabbia was it. Thiaw, Tomori back in a month and no UCL. Top 4 is all Redbird care about. So we stay as is and get that 35M budget for summer and sell another star player like Mike and Tomori or Benny in summer.
CRAZY …. CHASING A PLAYER WITH KNOWN PHYSICAL PROBLEMS!!!!! IS MONCADA UTTERLY MAD, STUPID OR WHAT!!!!???
Seeing his stats above I must admit I’m very impressed. Could be a one hit wonder though. And for 35-40 million we might as well try for scalvini.