Tuttosport: Cardinale may need to sanction ‘record-breaking coup’ this summer

AC Milan might well break their transfer record this summer because they know that they need to invest big in a striker, according to a report.

This morning’s edition of Tuttosport (via MilanNews) has a section dedicated to Milan’s plans ahead of 2024-25, titled: ‘Cardinale turning point: a record-breaking coup is needed for the striker’.

The management plan to make a major investment in the summer to sign a top centre-forward, especially given that Olivier Giroud might well leave for the MLS and Luka Jovic’s deal is expiring.

How much exactly is a ‘major investment’, though? As the paper points out, Milan have never paid over €50m to sign a player in their history. The closest they have come is with Rafael Leao.

He was signed from Lille in the summer of 2019 for around €30m, but after the Sporting CP fine was settled through an addition payment to the French side in the summer of 2023, that cost rose to €49.5m.

The Portuguese winger thus rose to number one in the all-time ranking for Milan, ahead of the €42m that they spent on Manuel Rui Costa and Leonardo Bonucci.

Who might the striker be that arrives? Joshua Zirkzee, Viktor Gyokeres, Benjamin Sesko and Santiago Gimenez are in their sights, with the former appearing to be first on the list also because he already knows Serie A.