Milan are reportedly in the same situation again, unwilling to match the Leeds United offer for Charles De Ketelaere and hoping the player can push Club Brugge to accept their proposal.
This is becoming a recurring theme for the Rossoneri, who already lost out on Sven Botman when out-bid by Newcastle United and only able to delay the move for so long until LOSC had to take the bigger fee.
According to Milan transfer expert Daniele Longo on Calciomercato.com, they are back in the same situation with 21-year-old creative midfielder De Ketelaere.
Leeds United have reportedly offered €37m including various add-ons, far more than the €30m including bonuses that Milan are proposing.
If they refuse to be drawn into a bidding war, and that has been the approach throughout the tenure of directors Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara along with CEO Ivan Gazidis, then Club Brugge could push the Belgian towards Leeds.
While De Ketelaere prefers Milan and Champions League football, there is only so far player power can go, especially when he is under contract with Brugge until June 2024.
The alternative would be either free agent Paulo Dybala, who has huge €6m per season salary demands, or Hakim Ziyech on loan with option to buy from Chelsea.
Milan are too stingy
What else is new lol. It’s clear Milan have no money.
Ok, Now this is getting ridiculous. Outbid by Leeds!
It’s sad that teams like Leeds can offer more money than a Serie A champion. We can’t compete internationally if we don’t get one of our dream players. Inter and Juve are gearing up for Vlahovic/Lukaku etc. We’re getting nothing.
They player will come into consideration, he will soon be a Milan player
Adli is the new signing.
Agree with your comments but let’s step outside the box for a minute…
This is normal when an English team is involved with player purchases, many times they bid and pay OVER INFLATED values.
I like CDK, he’s a good player with lots of potential and fits our model well However, you cannot tell me that this 21 year old playing in the Belgian League is already worth close to 40m? That’s BS and it is all due a PL club being involved. Don’t blame Milan for that. A PL club paid 80m for one of its league’s worst defenders. They do not know the value of money.
CDK is worth around 25-30m, exactly what MM have put on the table. If we need to walk away, so be it…
Hmmm…
I think I’m done commenting on rumors. I’ll be back when something’s official, whether a done transfer or a failed one like Botman.
Milan skint, Barca skint, oh dear lol… Leeds has plenty of cash. Next it will be 30M plus 2 players, the tea lady and the club cat.
Doesn’t matter. Don’t overpay. Italian teams need to start pouring more of their money into building youth programs and their own scouting instead of wasting money on agents and transfers.
We can draw conclusions here about how much a player is worth, but if someone offers more money for him, then that is their conclusion about the value of that player ! And who is now closer to some notion of the truth!? I’m afraid with this kind of transfer policy we won’t do much this summer.
Its obvious some of you are either seriously immature, or have no idea about the real world.
Firstly – remember that Milan got punished by FFP. And are actually still dealing with the fallout from it. They literally CANT risk paying huge sums because UEFA will be watching their accounts closely. And somewhat unfairly, when you consider all the big teams constantly break their budgets with no repurcussions
Secondly – Milan is a real world business. This isn’t some fantasy game where you can just go into the FM editor and change your bank balance to read “12 Billion Euros”. Saying they are ‘too stingey’ is dumb on so many levels.
And finally – Please for once realise you dont need to drop huge money on players – and it doesn’t guarantee success if you do. Chelsea paid £100m for Lukaku and Milan got Giroud for £1m – which of those was the better transfer?
It’s time to grow up now kids.
Let’s get down to basics
1/ The player does not want to play for Leeds United (end of)
2/ The player wants to play with a club in the champions league which is understandable ( bearing in mind they could be knocked out of the cup in the early stages)
3/ The player is turning down a chance to play in the English Premier league ( arguably the best league in the world)
I know where I would play given the choice. (English Premier League)
Let’s just wait and see.
this english sides are just bag of nuisancehow can u pay 40 mil for a player of that calibre
Monza will have better squad than Milan in just the first year in Serie A.
Big clubs in Spain and Italy are getting what they did to other clubs for many years , now the shoes on the other foot and they can’t bend the rules to suit , they maybe in the Champion’s League but the Italian League is noway near the Premiership.
It’s irritating seeing a club like Leeds showing interest in a player Milan is bidding for how much engaging in a bidding war. Milan has bidded the right amount, let meanows who think they can buy claas with money continue in the maze.
The Prem’s TV deal allows teams to spend more in the mercato. So this is what you get. And when you’re just coming off of FFP penalties, the last thing you can (or should) do is go back to just tossing money around.
And I’m still confused why some blame Redbird/Cardinale when they don’t take over until September.
@ Nico and Vogel Completely agree. I would also once again remind people what being a footbal fan is actually about. If you support a club then there is no club without the players. You cannot be chanting a player’s name one minute and then looking over shoulder for who to replace them with the next. It’s also not how you build a successful team both in football and real life. No real life business would tolerate staff turnover like in modern football and it is not the recipe for success. If we find the right player at the right price – great- but it is not the be all and end all.
Please, player values are overinflatted, we won the league with players bought with little to no money, on low-average salaries. I’d prefer we work and find bargains as we have done to date with the WHOLE SQUAD. The days of wasting €35m on players like Piatek should never be repeated.
I feel sorry for the player being pushed towards a club that is not his choice. Imagine having the opportunity to live and work in Lombardia – close to the lakes, the Alps, central Italy and close to Switzerland, the Riviera, The Tyrol and then you get sent to Leeds. Poor bloke – ending up in the Leeds.
Leeds should give up on the transfer. Signing a player that has clearly said they want to play for another club is stupidity. Botman did not really choose between Milan and Newcastle. He was silent.DE KETELAERA has made it CLEAR he wants Milan. I don’t understand how you buy a player that doesn’t want you.
Well said vogel. Leeds can bid as much as they want, they just sold their 2 best players. Milan could do the same and almost certainly get CDK but where would that leave the squad? Should we sell Tomori or Maignan or Leao to get him in? Of course not. Leeds and Milan is like comparing apples and oranges, FFP, TV revenue, stadium revenue etc etc etc.