Throughout the summer, AC Milan were intent on adding Youssouf Fofana to their midfield but had things gone differently in their pursuit, the Rossoneri had a plan B prepared.
Although Milan spent all summer courting Fofana, at several points it seemed like the deal would not be completed, and therefore, when it came to light that other options were being considered it did not come as a shock.
There were two real points where the deal seemed unlikely to happen. Firstly, when Manchester United entered the equation, and secondly when Monaco continued to reject any incoming offers. However, with the Frenchman only wanting a move to the Diavolo, it seemed like they had it in the bag, either this summer or next. Now, of course, we know it was the former.
As Tuttomercatoweb (via Radio Rossonera) reports, though, if he had not arrived, Milan would have gone for Samuele Ricci. According to the report, Geoffrey Moncada is a ‘great admirer’ of the player, and the Italian youngster could have been a ‘good alternative’ if the deal for Fofana had not happened.
The young talent is on the ‘notebooks’ of several of the top Serie A clubs, so if the Rossoneri want to revisit a deal, they will face heavy competition.
Already bring on Fofana to fail in favor of an Italian? Stellar reporting there by an Italian outlet.
But the irony is that Ricci is way better than his French footballer
Based on what? Dude had half a solid season for torino so far. Hardly the midfield saviour we need
And so mill continues to spin
F you Ricci haters, my boi will shine
Well italy beat france 3-1. So what happen with weak italy, how come italy become so strong without milan player. Is italy player so weak?
Well modern cardinale milan say, “yes foreign is better”
After Ricci’s phenomenal performance against France, if he keeps it up his price will increase sharply (by now as a matter of fact it has increased already) which will place him completely out of reach for our cheap management. Remember, this management doesn’t want to spend more than 20-25 M per player, and Ricci at this point is worth at least 35M.
We should have moved for Ricci way before everybody noticed how good he is (and he’d have made so much sense for the registration lists…). But then, we do not have a proper sporting director, a proper scout, and an agile and ambitious management. Thus, no Ricci for us.
I know right? If only we could move for players before everyone, including us, notices they are good, then our squad would be world class! 🤪
Misguided irony. That is called having a proper scout. We don’t have one. Moncada is not it. So, yes, if we did have a proper scout, maybe we would have noticed Ricci before others. That’s exactly the job description of a scout; they are supposed to discover the hidden gems.
Well I’m no scout and I’ve mentioned him as a target we should go after already when he was a kid at Empoli and I simply refuse to accept that I would have a better eye for talent than the scouts at Milan for the last 5 years. It has always been evident that the kid was a great talent we should have picked up- There might be a chance to get him next year though as his contract expires in 2026 but knowing how difficult Cairo is to deal with I wouldn’t really bet my money on it either.
Cairo and Lotito always try play whenever they have players with decent talent. Just to make a smaller profit later. They sum up how Italian operate and manage. Immobile left for small sum at Lazio they lost Belotti for free when they could got 100 mil
To be fair Cairo and Lotitto can run their clubs as they please and Ricci has only turned 23 this August so if there is interest in the player next year he will probably still cost 25 mil or something depending on how many suitors and from which leagues as well.
I hadn’t actually noticed that that Immobile had left them but he is also pretty old by now but on his day I would gladly have seen him in red and black.
AC Milan management I’m available!
Lol I said get Ricci before he went in Torino. I think he was avaliable for like 8mil. It was evident that he is a talented player. Its not like he was unknowln before Torino. But when you have a fraud for a scout i guess its different.
i get a feeling fofana wont have a season milan expect him to have but i would love to see ricci
So after going through the Fofana saga with everyone willing the signing, now everyone wants Ricci? #neversatisfied
They should go for this lad anyway. I wanted him when he was still in Empoli and I was so pissed when Torino got him for 9 millions. There’s another talent out there we’re going to regret, Matteo Prati. If Torino sell Ricci watch them move for Prati and repeat the pattern.
no fofana is better than ricci and he is a must have but we should have bought him when he was at empoli him parisi and baldazi then brought back bellanova and give/gave chance to colombo and brescianni
I don’t see anything special at this Fofana. Average player
This article is nonsense.
Every one knows that Moncada hates Italian players. Even the highest sold Italian player ( Sandro) he voted against the deal. It was only Maldini’s courage that made the deal possible for a protagonist of the scudetto and
What you wait with Ricci and Bellanova? When Juve or Inter make deal,you will send some offer 😂😂
Ricci again did well with the Azzurri against Israel.
After Firing Pioli management should make changes in the technical department. Better scout is needed and good sporting director.
What is needed:
– a new owner
– a new president
– a new CEO
– a new scout
– a new director
And most people say we need a new coach as well. The future looks bright, now doesn’t it?
don’t forget to add some players and offload some of those we still have.
Ricci price tag is 18-22ml Torino will accept even 10ml since his contract is expiring
His contract first expires in 2026 so no they wont and not even next summer either.
Ricci in and RLC out would be a nice long term upgrade in the midfield department. Even if Cairo plays hardball in summer 2025 with a year to expiry he won’t have that much leverage, still in the 20-25mn range.
Our issue is more likely to be competition. Inter would likely offer him more wages and better chance to compete far in European competition.
Not necessarily as it depends on various things. Cairo has proven to be willing to let contracts run its course with for example Belotti. Another thing could be how much does he value contribution for one season compared to the 10 mil suggestion Ashraf suggested- Finally who will show interest top teams from serie a or some teams from abroad depending on how ricci performs this season. Salary as you mentioned could also play a part but to think that we can just get him for ten mil doesnt really make any sense.
Ricci and Lewis Ferguson in, RLC out!
Ferguson is the upgrade for RLC, but Ricci is cover/upgrade of Bennacer! Since he’s also leaving we might need a 3rd addition next summer…
I think everyone needs to hear this. Why sign a young expensive midfielder when the youth system is full of young talented midfielders? Zeroli and Liberali will and should get their shot before Milan start forking out 10s of millions for whatever young Italian is in vogue.
Honestly, this is one of the times I will side with Milan.
As much as I want to see more Italians play for Milan, it would likely have cost almost twice the price of the Fofana operation to prise Ricci out of Torino in the same Mercato that they lost Buongiorno and Bellanova.
The failing of clubs like Milan is failing to identify and recruit the likes of Ricci and Bellanova before they get priced out of the equation…or doing it once with Tonali and then selling the guy and using the money to buy non-midfielders like RLC and slow wingers like Chukwueze.
Not that i overall disagree with some of the stuff you are saying here but Bellanova came through our own ranks.
Half of the Azzurri has played for Milan but were deemed “useless” by the management. THAT’s how competent our management has been in the recent years.
There is a lot indeed but I cant really say that I would want them all back now. Bellanova refused to renew his contract he was far too down the pecking order with both Calabria and Conti ahead of him and a t that point of time both was clearly the better players. Locatelli basically screwed us over as Milan wanted to keep him and initially just wanted to loan him out but he refused and would only join Sassuolo even when we had a better offer from Atalanta. That was basically done so he could join Juventus a few years later as he later on professed that he had always been a juventino. Christante deal paved the way for Berlusconi acquiring Bonaventura that summer as well and the later was one of our absolute best performers in the following years.
And now Fofana looks like a flop just like Emerson, Musah, RLC, and Chuk.
His preseason was ruined due to the waaay-too-long negotiations. He’ll improve soon enough.
I have no doubts that he’ll improve, but he doesn’t seem to be quite fit for the task we’re asking him to do.
With both Monaco and France, he was helped by players who were quite good defensively themselves and some even more defensive than him (Kanté, Tchouaméni,…) which allow him to carry the ball forward without fear of losing the ball.
In Milan, none of our current midfielders aside from him can defend to save their lives, so he has to carry all the defensive burden.
Had we gone for Ricci then we would have still been able to keep Jovic on the UCL list.
He would have occupied one of the 3 Italian trained player slots that remain empty and unusable.
We have no depth in midfield. We should have signed both Fofana & Ricci if we knew that Pobega was going to be loaned out.
This is a complete lie. Moncada only likes Frenchman. Moncada out.
Sounds fake, how can Moncada be interested by an Italian player from serie A ?