AC Milan face an uphill battle if they are to sign Granit Xhaka this summer, according to various reports.
It is no secret that Xhaka is on Milan’s list of midfield targets after the sale of Tijjani Reijnders to Manchester City left them needing another overhaul in that department. While personal terms were easy to agree, striking a deal with Bayer Leverkusen is proving more difficult.
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Milan run into Xhaka difficulties
Speaking on Sky’s Calciomercato l’Originale programme last night, the journalist and transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio took stock of Milan’s current situation and he mentioned the pursuit of the Swiss.
“Milan are evaluating whether to sink their hopes on Granit Xhaka, because at the moment Bayer’s financial request is out of reach for Milan, who would not want to spend so much for a midfielder over 30. We will see if there will be any new updates next week, but today Milan preferred to focus on the Theo issue,” he said (via MilanNews).
This morning’s La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) summarises the situation too. On one side there is Milan, who have identified the captain of Switzerland as one of the experienced reinforcements for a midfield to rebuild.
On the other there is Leverkusen do does not want to part with the player, so as not to further dismantle a team that Erik Ten Hag inherited in a remodelled form. In the middle there is Xhaka, who for his part has given full availability and openness to the transfer to a prestigious club like Milan.
In recent days Igli Tare flew to Germany, but the feeling is that he will have to return soon because a negotiation like this – if you want to have any chance of unblocking it – must be carried forward face to face.
It is therefore likely that the Albanian manager will soon move in person to go to Leverkusen and negotiate the purchase of the former Arsenal man, after an initial offer of €10m plus bonuses was rejected.
Xhaka is rubbish and old i don’t know why we are after him
Xhaka is a proven leader and younger than plenty of successful players in Serie A.
I am wary about a 3 year contract, which will take him to the age of 36, but I think he’s absolutely the sort of player we were missing last year.
Compare where Leverkusen were before and since he signed with them.
Leverkusen want 16 million Euro, and ACM haggles about 1-3 million. Peanuts in regards to how important Xhaka is for the reconstruction and how important it is for Allegri to start early with as complete a team as possible.
Mark my words, Furlani will f*ck this up, Allegri will whine, and ACM will purchase more expensive players at the end of August.
It is expensive to be cheap.
Again playing mind games over 2-3 million.
Still the same cu*t (Furlani) makes a decision.
The melancholy truth is this is a wrong move, we don’t need him, even the Modric move is wrong, the financial implications don’t make sense for old players, we need to concentrate on players below 27, not old men