Adriano Galliani revealed Milan “received an offer over €30m” for Stephan El Shaarawy, possibly from Chelsea or Arsenal, but turned it down.
The Vice-President was speaking to 7 Gold television this evening at a charity event.
Adriano Galliani revealed Milan “received an offer over €30m” for Stephan El Shaarawy, possibly from Chelsea or Arsenal, but turned it down.
The Vice-President was speaking to 7 Gold television this evening at a charity event.
“What we hadn’t told anyone was that we received a very big offer for El Shaarawy, but I will never name the club involved. It is a very important club, though,” said Galliani.
At the time of Tuesday’s crunch meeting, the proposals were thought to be from Chelsea, Anzhi or Arsenal.
“I informed the players’ agent and as soon as he returned from the Confederations Cup I spoke to Stephan.
“We did not want to sell him, so we simply informed the lad and his family that this proposal had arrived for him.
“I asked him what he wanted to do. He said the money he had was more than sufficient, that he is a Milan fan and did not want to leave. I kissed him on the cheek and that was that.”
Galliani’s comments in the weeks leading up to that meeting had implied El Shaarawy was on the market.
“We were not tempted by the offer, but we couldn’t exactly hide it from him. He saw the figures, but did not want to budge. How big was the offer? More than €30m.
“We discussed tactics for next season, as we are returning to a 4-3-2-1 system and he is happy to play as a support striker.
“He had a goal-scoring crisis in recent months, not a physical one, but he always worked hard for the team. He is only 20, so some ups and downs are natural. It even happened to Edinson Cavani, who didn’t score for two months.”