AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan is asking for a big pay increase from the Rossoneri to better reflect his status in the squad, a report claims.
As has been reported by Tuttosport (via Pianeta Milan), the French goalkeeper is keen to sign a new contract with Milan but he wants to see a considerable pay increase.
His current deal will expire in June 2026 which means there is no immediate rush, and he earns €2.8m net per season right now.
Contract extension talks had already started with Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara and he is a player that the club knows they simply can’t lose.
The hitch is that Maignan would want at least €8m net per season. That is more than Rafael Leao earns, a salary which Milan consider to be the ceiling.
There is no suggestion of a rift between player and club at this stage but some negotiation will clearly have to take place. Maignan is said to be happy with the training structure that has been created for goalkeepers at Milan, with coaches Tony Roberts and Luigi Ragno coming in.
I was so furious when club left Cashie, $rumma, Hakan and Alessio for free, but for now that Elliott management was right.
They put healthy boundaries and they show the way how any player is replaceable.
Any player who is motivated only with money, can not reach higher potential. In terms all our players who left, we managed to bring more cheaper, motivated and better players.
Mike is big players. But he has a limit in his potential and also he should have limits in terms of salary requests.
If hid only motivation is money for near future than is time to say goodbye.
First, Mike wasn’t pleased with Maldini’s departure, obviously. Then, the management clearly stated with Tonali’s sale that if a good offer arrives, no matter your role in the team and your dedication to this jersey, you leave. All of this says “football is a business these days, we embrace it and we run the club like a company”.
So we can’t be furious at players that have a limited perspective, knowing they can leave at any time and that their career is short, to maximise their revenues. It can’t be in one direction only, allegiance from the players to the club, but the club owes nothing in return. If we want to keep our best players, we should raise the salary cap now. With top clubs and Saudi Arabia offering crazy money to top players, we have to adapt.
We don’t yet have the revenues to “adapt” in this manner. If we pay Mike 8 we’d need to pay Theo and Leao 10, and so on and so forth. It would mean raising 20 salaries in short order, not just one. Mike was brought for 13m so if we can get 80m or more him next summer we should cash in.
Yeah that’s the part I’m not familiar with, “sell Leao, sell Théo, sell Mike, we’ll make a profit”. These guys are among the best players in the world at their respective position, it’s a pride for Milan and the management should do their best to keep them if they have ambition for major trophies. Being a feeder club that develops top players for top clubs to make profits is a good business model, but a poor one for winning as there is a glass ceiling.
Keepers are replaceable man let’s be honest. Having the best keeper on the planet guarantees nothing in terms of results. Just look at the GK sales and recruits Milan and Inter did in the last few seasons. Golden boy Donna for Mike at 13m and 60m for Obama to get Sommer for peanuts who is better. There is no shortage of excellent players in all positions, and more are being minted every day. Sentimentality is a foolish endeavor in this game. UBS that remain successful have a plan and stick to that plan. You can splash the cash on transfers and salaries and still bomb.
@Flossonero
“Keepers are replaceable man let’s be honest. Having the best keeper on the planet guarantees nothing in terms of results.”
The first part of the statement is a known fact. GKs are pound for pound the most replaceable position in football. However, I disagree with the second part. If you do have an elite GK (let’s say, one of the top 10), then that players will win you games (and save you games).
@Bartholomeo
“So we can’t be furious at players that have a limited perspective, knowing they can leave at any time and that their career is short, to maximise their revenues. It can’t be in one direction only, allegiance from the players to the club, but the club owes nothing in return.”
I think this has been true for a while. The more money that has come into the sport, the more true your statement has become. Long gone are the days when 7-8 of the starting 11 grew up at the club, or even in the country.
As to my own comment:
Does Mike “deserve” 8m? Maybe. But he’s also 29, turning 30. Still in a goalkeeper’s prime, but he’s no spring chicken. Also, kind of flying under the radar in these threads, is his injury history. He’s missed time in both of the last two seasons. I say get him at 6-6.5m, which would still make him the the highest paid player on the team, and if he insists, then sell. People despair about finding another good player, but there is always another one.
@flossonero
Maignan was a one in a thousand grab and can’t expect that all the time. Sommer is not better than Onana and is also 35 an da very short term replacement. Also look at Roma who sold Allisson like 5 years ago and since then all their goalkeepers have been trash and with that came the decline of the team overall from title contenders and ucl semi to europa league contenders
We have to adapt? By rising the salary cap? They do adapt by trying build their own stadium, by reaching may sponsor agreement, thats all to increase revenue so they can spent more and more in the years coming, luckily we didnt have people like you in the management area
what allegiance? He is under contract. If he wasnt more morney, fine. if he wants more than the club can pay then best course of action ofc is to sell. The club will get a nice sum and he will get his pay raise somewhere else..
Fock sake, the gk is the easiest to replace.
Raise the salary cap. For a gk? Who is also somewhat injury prone?
AhA
Exactly! 80m for a keeper we paid 13m and hasn’t had an entire season without injury? Yes please!
First of all, how do you know how he felt about Maldini’s departure?
Second, Tonali was not a crucial part of this team. I know the fans loved him because he grew up loving Milan as a boy, but honestly he was overhyped and overrated and Newcastle was offering more than he was worth. It was a smart deal.
Also, while I do think Maignan is very good, he is aslo the most injury prone keeper I’ve ever seen. Missing months at a time each season, so that should be taken into consideration. Goalkeepers are replaceable. The defense in front of them is far more important.
Exactly. Take 80m for Mike. Spend 20m on Mamardashvili and 60m on a proper young striker. Instant overall upgrade and you haven’t even touched the “usual” 50m transfer fund, which would then go to a proper left-footed CB to solve this BS we’re seeing in the heart of our defense. Then move Tomori to the bench and sell Kalulu for 30m and that’s your new defensive midfielder right there. We’d have a world-class squad.
Please don’t associate Romagnoli with the likes of dollar u ma and cashie…
Leao at 23 gets 6m
Mike at 28 get 2.5m, the next renewal will be the best salary of his career.
There is a big difference before you comment and compare with Dollarumma, at 21 he requested 10m salary even though Milan offered 7m.
So now you can decide if Magic Mike doesn’t deserve 8m?(1m more than what was offered to Dollarumma)
To the fact, the saves Mike made during last 16 and quarter finals in champions league lead to gain 40m+ in additional by Milan.
Best goal keepers always gives the edge to win big matches.
I see the point you’re trying to make, but where was Mike when he was 21? Maybe Donnarumma has weaker distribution but he was making world class saves for AC Milan at an age Mike was still an unknown reserve somewhere. By your logic, by the time Donnarumma is 29 and assuming he continues to get better, he would command 20m per year.
Don’t believe everything you read in social media
6m in basic salary + 2m in performance related bonus does not break the salary cap imposed by the management.
Cash in next summer
Sell for 80 and buy Giorgi Mamardashvili for 20-25. Invest the rest on a CB and a striker.
Good idea bro.
The only solution is the redbird get out, sell milan out to oil money king
I hate the greed in football. How much money do footballers really need. Fine if he wants some kind of payrise. But to get 250 % extra is not reasonable. In normal jobs 4 % a year is ehat we get. But these players get millions and millions of euros every year and still want huge raises. At the samt time us normal folks have to sell our houses because of inflations, taxes and interests raising through the roof.
I hate the world but I love Milan.
Get rid of him if that is what he wants. I love you Mike but please be reasonable!
I remember when asked during the whole Tonali transfer debacle, I did say I’d prefer to sell Mike than Tonali and then Timori in that order 🤷♂️.
Mike is great but there are many good GKs around. Dida wasn’t exactly stellar for us in the UCL, he was good but it’s a position where you can “live with”. Defence and a game changing attacker however….
Yep , sebastiano rossi are good GK on ACM dream team but he can be replace more easy than replace striker. Moncada said donna can be replaced by another cheap GK and it is proven now. Mike are good GK and deserved salary rise but not 8m euro nett or become highest paid salary on squad,perhaps 5m euro + 2m euro bonus are fair offer for mike. If he still insist 8m euro nett then it is time to find his replacement because ACM financial still not in the level like EPL or saudi club
100%. SuperSeba Rossi was a record holder for consecutive minutes without conceding in Serie A, until Buffon broke it in 2016. Was he the best GK ever? No. He had Maldini, Costacurta, Baresi, Tassoti and in front of him.
Thank god they didn’t listen to you. The Tonali sale was the best thing this management has done. Our midfield is much improved now and our attack as well. Tonali was overrated which Newcastle is now finding out. After a good first game with them he has been taken off early in the last 3 matches, in the last defeat to Brighton at the 55 minute mark. Honeymoon is over.
Great GK, probably the best at the moment, he deserves to be paid as the best GK, but Milan should let someone else pay him the money he deserves to get paid.
Hopefully he has a great season with Milan winning the scudetto and maybe another trophy but at the end of the year they need to cash in on Maignan.
80+ mil. Take the money, buy another GK and spend the rest of the money on filling up the rest of the squad. There are still few positions that need to be addressed to complete the team.
I just don’t think Milan can afford to pay him 8mil a season, because it sets a precedent they won’t be able to follow with other renewals. Mike is fully deserving a raise, no doubt. It would have to be like 5-6mil with bonuses… or something along those lines.
He’s in his prime and would want to make as much as he can, and I totally get that. But I hope he believes in our project enough to stick around and see where this thing goes. Hope they can reach an agreement.
What I know for sure is that AC Milan would not allow Super Mike to leave without adequate replacement and the logic is Redbird are around to win not by all means possible but smartly, that means it has identified the core of this Milan like a pyramid structure from Leao to Theo to Maignan and Tonali then.
So if Redbird could retain the services of Leao on 7m annually that means Maignan would be upgraded also albeit wouldn’t be up to 7m though but at least 5m I believe. And with the recent passion shown by Cardinale he becoming connected and by this I believe it will be difficult for him to lose a fabric of his developing desire to win more than Bellusconi.
My take on this is without adequate replacement AC Milan is not gonna sell Super Mike but at least we know now that AC Milan has bearing and the destination ain’t faraway indeed.
8m Euros gross ? Or net ? Leao get 4m euros net, and the gross about 5,8m euros.
I think Maignan deserved to get the same amount as Leao. He is one of the best GK in the world, already one of a leader in dressing room, and French’s first-choice GK.
I think if Mike want big salary, then management will sell him next season.
But don’t worry, Italy have always produce a good goalkeeper.
We will get new goalkeeper, whether that italian or foreign goalkeeper
Milan has always had great goal keepers in our history. We know how to hunt for first team goal keepers.
However, as much as I love Mike. He is injury prone. 8m is a lot. 4m is not bad at all.