Leonardo Bonucci and Lucas Biglia have not been registered by Milan because payment won’t arrive until August 11, confirmed Marco Fassone.
The pair were expected to take part in tomorrow night’s Europa League preliminary round tie against Craiova in Romania, but are not in the squad.
It was initially believed this was due to a timing issue, but Il Sussidiario reported the transfers were not yet complete because Milan had difficulty accessing financial bonds.
Leonardo Bonucci and Lucas Biglia have not been registered by Milan because payment won’t arrive until August 11, confirmed Marco Fassone.
The pair were expected to take part in tomorrow night’s Europa League preliminary round tie against Craiova in Romania, but are not in the squad.
It was initially believed this was due to a timing issue, but Il Sussidiario reported the transfers were not yet complete because Milan had difficulty accessing financial bonds.
This evening, Fassone effectively confirmed the situation, albeit with a reassuring edge.
“Milan want to reassure all the fans on the bonds situation and make clear that on August 11 they will be regularly deposited.”
This does mean that until that date, the Rossoneri cannot count on Bonucci or Biglia in competitive games.
The Serie A season begins on August 19-20 and it is hoped they will be available by that time, but the contracts have already been deposited and nobody is suggesting the transfers won't be completed.
Milan signed Bonucci from Juventus for €42m, while Biglia cost approximately €17m plus bonuses from Lazio.
On Sunday, Fassone had already hinted at this situation.
“We have handed in the squad list to UEFA. You won’t find Biglia and Bonucci there, signings that we completed on Saturday.
“Let nobody think that there are problems of another nature, it is just a technical issue regarding a delay and the timing based on the speed with which we concluded these operations.
“These issues will be resolved when we return to Italy.”