Antonio Vitiello believes it is a shame how Theo Hernandez’s time at AC Milan ended, but now the funds are there for an ambitious summer.
Initially it seemed that joining Al-Hilal was off the table for Theo despite the huge salary offer, as the left-back wanted to stay in Europe. Atletico Madrid were his preference, but they did not offer anywhere close to the same transfer fee, so no agreement was reached with Milan.
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Atletico then moved on, no other clubs came in and the Saudi offer was the only one left for Theo, at least without wanting to wait weeks to figure out his future. Thus, on Monday it was reported that he has finally changed his mind and will complete a move to Simone Inzaghi’s team.
Milan now have €100m to spend
Vitiello published his weekly column for MilanNews and he dedicated the majority of it to the latest outgoing from Milan, that of Theo, and what it means for the budget that is available.
The title reads: ‘Farewell announced, a defeat for everyone. Now 100 million to invest: let’s move on to the second phase’.
“It’s a shame how it ended with Theo Hernandez. The most prolific defender (in terms of league goals) in the club’s history is leaving after six seasons, one of the most important players in Milan’s last few years, has accepted a transfer to Saudi Arabia,” the column begins.
“Earning 25-30 million euros in just one season compared to the contractual expiration is not bad at all, the figure can be accepted. Here, however, we are discussing what Theo could have been with Milan and how he was managed in the past months, when he had weaknesses and difficulties.
“Trying to recover a player who for years has been labeled as one of the best full-backs in the world. Celebrating that Theo has left Milan is a defeat for everyone. It’s a story that should teach how to manage champions, that perhaps even great players need to be followed and helped in the down phases.
“Now Theo will take insults or there will be the usual narratives fed based on how the wind blows, that’s how it works in social football, but we’ll see who will be the replacement and what he will be able to do at Milan.
“We have seen plenty of right and left backs who have become shooting stars. There was only one Theo, after all he is the only one who in six seasons scored 31 goals and made 24 assists.
“The player is also to blame. At 27 years old, accepting Arabia is a form of surrender. It’s okay to earn 20 million a year, but he could and should have had different attitudes. It’s a shame how it ended. This is why the defeat is the responsibility of everyone, player and club.
“Now Milan with the sales of Theo, Reijnders and Kalulu has 100 million to spend on the incoming market. There are many roles to strengthen. Two full-backs, two midfielders, a striker and maybe a central defender.
“It will take all the skill of Igli Tare to make the best use of the economic resources and make Milan competitive. Selling Theo and Reijnders is not a good start, now we will see how the rest of the market will be.
“Xhaka is the most advanced operation, Modric will arrive after the Club World Cup with Real Madrid. Leoni is a target in defence but he costs a lot and above all there is competition. In attack they are looking for a player who has already had experience in Serie A, someone ready to immediately pair with Gimenez.”
Agree with this, it’s a defeat for Milan, for Theo and for football.
Really wish we’d tried to make this work, surely there was some better option – was looking forward to seeing him after a summer’s rest with a point to prove.
Suspect he’ll be back in Europe, maybe Italy, in a year or two.
Theo has been trash for 2 years with the occasional good game. If it was bad play I could forgive but we are talking terrible decisions, attitude etc that started in Pioli’s last year. I don’t buy the over use argument either, all top players at top clubs play 50+ games a year national team included. If you’re game drops because you tired fair enough but that doesn’t make him a top player. If Theo was a real leader and person Milan could built around we would have seen that this year when stuff was going bad. Instead he contributed to the negativity and was the key figure in every embarrassing moment, his silly red cards, the cooling break to name a few
“I don’t buy the over use argument either”
All the messis ja cristianoronaldos have also played non-stop and havent rested for 10 years and they’re ~40. 🙂
And they’ve done zero defending or pressing in that time, which is why they were an absolute burden for their clubs for their final years before moving to second (or third or fourth) tier leagues.
“And they’ve done zero defending or pressing in that time”
Just like Theo 🙂
“Celebrating that Theo has left Milan is a defeat for everyone. It’s a story that should teach how to manage champions, that perhaps even great players need to be followed and helped in the down phases.
“Now Theo will take insults or there will be the usual narratives fed based on how the wind blows, that’s how it works in social football, but we’ll see who will be the replacement and what he will be able to do at Milan.”
Nuff said!
100 mil for the vendor loan *
Because that’s where it’s going.
Exactly. Milan brass would not make the entire sum available for the transfer campaign.
When no club in Europe wants you, it ain’t because you have been mismanaged by your current club.
He is not old, he is not injury prone or had any significant injury in his career, but everyone stayed away from him. 2 summers in a row BTW, not just this summer.
Exactly. There was not a big market for him. That, at least to me shows that this talk of him being a top left back was crazy. Maybe he was three years ago. The first job of a defender is to defend. Last year he lost track of players on the back post and his 1v1 defending was below average.
He was linked to Manchester United last year. But yeah, let’s be satisfied with Zinchenko, ain’t no LB’s in the near future who will reach Theo’s knees
Is that in some way a good thing to be linked with 16th placed team in EPL? Going to man united is a downgrade, even from this terrible Milan side.
So desperate.
He was being linked to Manchester United last season and then Manchester United went and spent 40 m on a LB from Serie A, Lecce’s Dorgu. That’s how interested they were in Theo Hernandez.
He is not going to Arabia because he wants to. He is going there because no one in Europe wants him.
Yep. Sure, he has good numbers and this is great, but he’s clearly toxic. An LB with such numbers, at age 27, with one year left on contract and asking for 8M per year to renew should have a LONG line of suitors. But he doesn’t. Why??? Because no serious team wants a player who disappears for 50% of the season, doesn’t track back to defend (a leftback’s primary duty is defending, and that’s also Theo’s weakness), insults his coach by not participating in a team talk during a water break because he’s butthurt that he didn’t start, etc. Maybe he should have been converted to a winger like Gareth Bale? Maybe the best formation for Theo is a wingback using 3-5-2? In any case, all of those ships have sailed. Good luck to him in early retirement.
“insults his coach by not participating in a team talk during a water break because he’s butthurt that he didn’t start”.
Theo didn’t just insult the coach at that moment but his teammates as well. He and his buddy didn’t just distanced themselves from the coach but from their brothers. That broke Milan locker room. But at the time .ost Milan fans defended the 2 clowns.
When it comes to Theo being converted to a winger like Bale.
Bale was a skilled and shifty player who could play in several positions.
Theo is a stiff player with no shiftiness in his game and very little skill. Theo is just a great athlete who can run in a straight line, with zero ability to change direction or use his right foot. Thats why he is useless vs teams that sit back. He is nothing more than a counter attacking wingback. He isn’t beating anyone of the dribble on the wing from a standing position.
Serginho is a better comparison for Bale. Serginho could play as a LB, LWB, LW and in few games as a n10. Serginho was a better player than Theo but imma let that one go for another time. Theo fanboys are already hurting.
We’ve already tried him as wingback when Pioli tried a 3-4-3 back in 2023 and even later this season under Conceição and both times the overall results were underwhelming.
I’d don’t Théo could have been like Gareth Bale. Gareth had an absolulety wicked shot. Théo doesn’t shoot like that with his left and especially not with his right.
Z you are the biggest loser on this page. Only here to hate. Fans like you deserve Emerson Royal and Musah guys
Truth sounds like hate to those that don’t wanna hear it.
I am not sure why some are complaining – Theo hasn’t been good for the last couple seasons and there is NO TEAM out there going after him – if he was that good, teams would be lining up to get him. He is simply not good at defending, he has a good run forward once in a while but that’s it. He cares more about his hair than he does about playing. Terrible attitude. Maybe he should be used as a midfielder instead since he can’t defend? It’s a good deal for Milan to sell him.
Bad deal for all parties. Agreed 100%.
Reading all the above, I don’t know why people say he’s been bad for two seasons; Theo was solid last year, surprisingly even when he played CB when we had no other choice. This season he really regressed defensively, and had some really bad moments in critical games, but was still decent offensively.
Ultimately, I think it was his salary demands that drove him away from us, and the rest of Europe. Such a shame.
262 games, one Scudetto and yet some people here would probably shot him in the face if they had the opportunity.
“Theo has been trash for 2 seasons now”
Theo 23/24 all competitions:
46 games, 5 goals, 11 assists
Theo 24/25 all competitions:
49 games, 5 goals, 6 assists
23/22 (45/4/5) and 22/21 (41/5/10)
He’s been consistent for 4 seasons. Minutes played throughout these 4 seasons? 15.560.
Can’t wait for his replacement🍿
How about his defensive output? Or that doesn’t matter in this case?
You were very vocal when it came to Reijnders defensive ability as a box to box midfielder, but somehow you don’t want to talk about the defensive ability of Theo hernandez who first and foremost is supposed to be a defender. 🍿
First and foremost he’s a wingback. Always was. These are statistics expected of a wingback.
Secondly, considering you’re this blog’s smarta*s and like to attack peoples opinions, I’d expect you to have at least basic knowledge of football. You see, both Fonzy and Pioli spoke that in order to achieve balance, one flank must act offensive while the other acts defensive. Or you think they’re about so sign Zinchenko because he’s a defensive beast on that flank?
“It’s a shame how it ended. This is why the defeat is the responsibility of everyone, player and club.”
Naaah. If you read the comment sections, it’s 100% on Milan and 0% on Theo. You know the one who intentionally sabotaged his own career. 🙂
You’re confused. Milan and this management are two different things. Théo loved Milan. This management couldn’t care less about Milan. How these bullies mishandle contract negotiations and communicate poorly on and off record could explain why several players, not only Théo, were not happy in this toxic corporate environment.
Yes Bart exactly that, unfortunately many of these so called fans here lack a huge dose of empathy.
Theo’s motivation started dying with Maldini’s departure. Also the fact that Kessie was never properly replaced affected Theo’s gameplay bigtime. People started complaining about his defending, I don’t hear any Inter fan complaining about Dumfries, as long as those spaces he leaves are covered up.
I never appreciated his manners at times, I always thought he could leave that bevind, but I am a big fan of the player he was and surely still is, a top professional. Therefore would hate it if he were to join Hilal, as I am sure he has still 5years min to offer on high level in Europe.
Well said @Bartholomeo
Come on… I guess all in all it was the best feasible outcome for us He clearly didn’t want to play here anymore, so what could we have done, with just one year of contract left? The board managed to grab a reasonable deal and that’s it.
Even with 100 millio euro Furlani will haggle for 1-2-3 million and be too afraid to make a decision.
Had to happen tho. The fanboys will make any excuse they want, but it changes nothing. The guy was in the argument for worst player of the season this year with the number of games he singlehandedly cost us. Many of those were also down to just pure laziness. Everyone wants to mention being tired from the summer, might I remind you France didn’t even make it to the final and guys in England and Spain have been just fine. Hell, Yamal plays almost every game for Barca and he’s a teenager. Watching Theo this season was PAINFUL. The guy spent 70% of the game walking. The water break tantrum, the ridiculous diving, the refusal to pay attention and track back, and then had the audacity to demand his wages be doubled?! The man has arguably not even been worth the contract he was on. It takes a monumental effort to be a bigger defensive weak link then emerson, but he genuinely was at times. The clowns here thinking he was worth 8mil a season are sitting here wondering why not a single top 6 team came for him… same as when cr7 left man utd. Buddy thought he’d have a bunch of teams willing to put up with him. Turns out there’s zero
The worst transfers Ac Milan has made in their entire history selling Tijj and Theo, not minding the mind’s of the player’s.
Theo heart is with Milan and that of Tijj, nothing good comes from Americans, they’re just after money,the next to be sold will be Rafael Leao.
Leao is the only player to sacrifice 175m
Now three players for same 100 and an important ones
Bad decision,I will sell leao and keep Theo
Do u guys know how many times leao have put Milan and left back under pressure by losing possession countless times,even wen Theo move forward to support the attack,
Ask ur self if dimarco is better than Theo and insaghi wants Theo in Arab ,
This will tell u that we have players and we are not using them properly