The summer mercato is quickly approaching, and with that, discussions are beginning to take place at Milanello about the plans for the window. The main port of call will be evaluating potential incomings, but there also needs to be conversations about who could leave AC Milan.
As was the case last summer, Milan do not need to sell players to invest in their squad. However, no player is unsellable, and this is where the club need to evaluate their options. Given there are plans to invest in a new striker and defender, if the Rossoneri want to bring in quality, it could involve them having to make funds available through sales.
Tuttosport (via MilanNews) have reported that the club could be in a similar position to last year, where they sell a big player to invest where they need to – the player being considered for this currently is Mike Maignan.
The Diavolo have no interest in selling Rafael Leao or Theo Hernandez unless a crazy offer arrives. Whilst Maignan is still a key figure, he is seen as the ‘most expendable player of value’, and should an offer of €80 million arrive, the club will sell him, otherwise, they are happy to keep him.
Additionally, given there are currently stumbling blocks in negotiations about the Frenchman’s contract, selling him may be seen as the best option for all parties, with the two parties currently €2m apart in their talks.
It is vital to look back to the case of Sandro Tonali last summer. His departure allowed Milan to triple their budget at the cost of losing a fan favourite, but the club made the most of their increased budget, bringing in the likes of Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who have both had a positive impact on the team.
I’d snap so someone’s hand off for 80m. We could get a very good keeper for half that amount and most importantly it would mean we don’t sell Theo or Leao.
I would get David De Gea as he is a free agent and sell Mike for 80 mil. Goalkeepers have a long career and David is only 33 and has still has 2-3 years.
With the money we can strengthen other areas.
We conceded more than 40 goals this season and if he can get someone for free and get 80 mil other way it would be good
Not David De gea lol
De Gea is utter baloney. The guy went way down in all form and was described as an absolute joke. That would be such a massive downgrade I’d rather just make Sportiello the first choice keeper and promote some teenager.
I can’t believe anyone brings up De Gea anymore. Butter fingers couldn’t even find a team in Spain that would sign him. He will be retired early.
Do you want to sell Tomori and sign Harry Maguire too? Lmao. Two peas in a pod.
I think so too but only if he reduces his wage demands. I believe that’s why he doesn’t have a club. His reflexes are excellent and Man Utd right now is just a place where good players go to d.ie. It’s happening with Onana right now too and several of their players. Something is wrong with that environment. If he’s in the right environment he could get back to his previous best.
De Gea is an absolute hack. He’s never going to get back to his previous best. His form that he had years ago is absolutely gone and he’s done as a player. Ask yourself why nobody signed him. Not even a lower division team in Spain.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I honestly doubt that anyone would offer 80 million for mike this summer, especially if the club’s management doesn’t find a common language regarding his salary soon, we’ll simply be forced to settle for a lower amount.
This. Expecting 80m for a player two seasons removed from his best season, an injury record and holding all the cards when it comes to contract negotiations, is crazy. I’d be more than happy with 50-60M for Mike. That would cover the striker, the ~30-35M we’re receiving from CDK/Salad/Colombo/Maldini will get the CB reinforcement, and then use the normal 50M budget to get a 30M rated DM and 20M on a GK. Done.
I am not a fan of the Tonali sale, even though the gambling ban vindicated the management for this season. We cannot compete with the top clubs when it comes to salary so we need to offer something else. History, on-field success, holding on to star players, having influential football people like Ibra, Maldini, Leonardo, Boban…etc. are our alternatives to attracting ambitious players. This season, we weren’t competitive in the Scudetto race and we lost a lot of money from our CL elimination so we need money to attract players. How do we raise that kind of money? We sell one of our stars.
I don’t like it and hope we avoid it, but if someone had to go, it would be Mike. His injury history and the availability of affordable alternatives such as Carnesecchi make him the most likely candidate.
Solid GK costs 20 million and probably won’t be as good with feet as Mike… That said he’s the first sacrifice I’d make.
The thing is though… We’re kind of forced to sell him in the summer. He’s not going to accept 5-6M€ and Milan won’t offer more. Obviously Milan could do what they’ve done before and let him leave for free too but I’d put money on the fact that Gerry has something to say about letting that happen.
If MM16 were the only starter to leave we’d have a fighting chance next season (assuming Giroud stays and a new RELIABLE #9 comes).
Of Leao, Hernandez and Maignan, I’d rather we sell him and then sign a replacement. There are other keepers out there. If he won’t accept an extension, then we unfortunately won’t have a choice.
But please nobody bring up De Gea here again. That guy is an absolute clown. He couldn’t even sign for a second division team in Spain. Nobody wants him.
A price of 80M seems fair for our GK. There were rumors of Bayern being interested in Maignan. If these are true, and if a contract extension is seemingly impossible,
we should negotiate with Bayern for Zirkzee + cash (40M). Bayern has a repurchase option on Zirkzee for 40M. If Milan are truly interested in that player and in order not to overpay/compete with English clubs, they should make any Maignan deal with Bayern contingent on obtaining Zirkzee.
Milan would sacrifice a star GK for a rising CF star, who has already proven to be capable in Serie A (as opposed to Sesko, Gyokeres, David). The extra cash would help recruit another GK and increase the summer transfer budget to get a needed DM as well as CB’s/RB/LB.
I wouldn’t be surprised if RedBird also decide to cash in on Bennacer and Kalulu. We need to get use to the fact that RedBird operates a player trading system, cashing in on big names and buying rising stars to deepen the squad and the bench. So far, sacrificing Tonali appears to have worked out even though it was a very difficult sacrifice to accept as a Milan fan.