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Home of AC Milan, Official Thread

The details for the beginning of AC Milan’s preseason preparations has been released, with a tour to the United States coming later this month.

As the official website writes, the squad are almost ready to begin preparing for the 2023-24 campaign with Milanello and the PUMA House of Football getting ready to welcome back the men’s and women’s first teams plus the Primavera.

The Rossoneri will return to Milanello on Monday 10 July and will train for around ten days there. Then, the departure for the tour in the United States is set for Friday 21 July.

In the USA the team will play three friendlies:

➤ Real Madrid vs. AC Milan – Soccer Champions Tour: Sunday 23 July, time TBC – Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena.

➤ Juventus vs. AC Milan – Soccer Champions Tour: Thursday 27 July, time TBC – Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson.

➤ AC Milan vs. Barcellona – Soccer Champions Tour: Tuesday 1 August, time TBC – Allegiant Stadium Las Vegas.

The AC Milan Women will begin preseason with some initial tests on Thursday 20 July. Then, formal training will begin at the PUMA House of Football under the orders of head coach Maurizio Ganz on Monday 24th July.
 
The axis between AC Milan and Chelsea could be warm again this summer, but it seems there are a number of players being discussed with Salernitana too.

According to Calciomercato.com, the first name mentioned during the discussions was Pasquale Mazzocchi who the Milan management are looking at as a potential deputy right-back and left-back given his versatility.

However, this now appears to have opened a series of negotiations between the teams with the most recent subject of discussion being Boulaye Dia, who scored 16 goals in his first Serie A season.

He has just been bought permanently by Salernitana for €12m but he has a €25m release clause in his deal which makes him tempting for several interested clubs including the Rossoneri it seems.

If Milan decide to go all-in for Dia amid the doubts over other striker targets like Morata and Scamacca, they have the advantage of being able to put on the plate some counterparts that are admired by Salernitana director Morgan De Sanctis and head coach Paulo Sousa.

One of them is Marco Brescianini who had an excellent season in Serie B with Cosenza, but newly-promoted Frosinone are keen on a permanent deal and are promising a 50% resale clause to Milan.

Then there is Daniel Maldini, who – as his agent Beppe Riso recently confirmed – is the subject of interest from at least three teams: Frosinone, Empoli and of course Salernitana.

Finally, it cannot be excluded that in the conversations scheduled between the two clubs in the coming weeks there will be talk about Yacine Adli, who worked with Sousa at Bordeaux.

The Franco-Algerian had very little playing time in his first season with the Rossoneri and assessments are underway on the best solution for the continuation of his career. He was bought for €8.5m in the summer of 2021.

Lorenzo Colombo is also a player the Campanian club like but Stefano Pioli’s plan remains to evaluate him during preseason as a potentially useful rotation option for the attack.
 
The axis between AC Milan and Chelsea could be warm again this summer, but it seems there are a number of players being discussed with Salernitana too.

According to Calciomercato.com, the first name mentioned during the discussions was Pasquale Mazzocchi who the Milan management are looking at as a potential deputy right-back and left-back given his versatility.

However, this now appears to have opened a series of negotiations between the teams with the most recent subject of discussion being Boulaye Dia, who scored 16 goals in his first Serie A season.

He has just been bought permanently by Salernitana for €12m but he has a €25m release clause in his deal which makes him tempting for several interested clubs including the Rossoneri it seems.

If Milan decide to go all-in for Dia amid the doubts over other striker targets like Morata and Scamacca, they have the advantage of being able to put on the plate some counterparts that are admired by Salernitana director Morgan De Sanctis and head coach Paulo Sousa.

One of them is Marco Brescianini who had an excellent season in Serie B with Cosenza, but newly-promoted Frosinone are keen on a permanent deal and are promising a 50% resale clause to Milan.

Then there is Daniel Maldini, who – as his agent Beppe Riso recently confirmed – is the subject of interest from at least three teams: Frosinone, Empoli and of course Salernitana.

Finally, it cannot be excluded that in the conversations scheduled between the two clubs in the coming weeks there will be talk about Yacine Adli, who worked with Sousa at Bordeaux.

The Franco-Algerian had very little playing time in his first season with the Rossoneri and assessments are underway on the best solution for the continuation of his career. He was bought for €8.5m in the summer of 2021.

Lorenzo Colombo is also a player the Campanian club like but Stefano Pioli’s plan remains to evaluate him during preseason as a potentially useful rotation option for the attack.
 
There have been a number of different targets linked with AC Milan as they look for a new centre-forward, but Dusan Vlahovic’s name will raise some eyebrows.

The midfield needs rebuilding after Sandro Tonali’s big-money sale to Newcastle United, and there is a need to sign a striker who can support Olivier Giroud for next season in addition to replacing the Italian.

There have been a number of names circulating from Alvaro Morata and Gianluca Scamacca to Lois Openda, Folarin Balogun and Alexander Sorloth, but there are still fans holding onto the hope a big investment will be made.

Vlahovic would fit that bill. He scored 21 goals in 37 games for Fiorentina in the 2020-21 Serie A season and then netted 17 goals in 21 games for them the following season, before joining Juventus.

With the Bianconeri he scored seven in 15 in the final six months of that campaign after moving in January, and in 2022-23 he scored 10 in 27 as the team struggled in general.

On his YouTube channel Carlo Pellegatti spoke about a potential ‘dream’ for the Rossoneri, with his comments relayed by MilanLive.

“I like to dream big and deceive myself. This news is sweet, tasty and soft: yesterday I read an indiscretion and I’m sharing it with you,” he said.

“Dream, what it costs you, then we will continue with our Scamacca, Morata and Openda, but the indiscretion, I haven’t verified it and I don’t dare to do it, then if the dream comes true we will all be very happy.

“Yesterday I read that Milan might be interested in Dusan Vlahovic. I fell asleep with this hope. Calciostyle writes it, Milan could give 35 million and the rest deferred. Contract worth 5 million euros per season.

“As for the forward, I never thought that Milan stopped at the three names we’re talking about. You will see something from the top hat and Vlahovic is not a rabbit but an elephant. With the purchase of Vlahovic, Milan would not compete for Milinkovic-Savic. It’s a Saturday morning dream…”

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Liam Gallagher enjoyed winding up some Inter fans last night during his concert in Milano, and thanked the AC Milan supporters for their warm reception.

Before going into the Oasis classic Wonderwall, Liam Gallagher asked those present: “Do we have any Inter fans in the house?” There was a smattering of responses, before he asked: “Any Manchester City fans in the house?”

Then, he decided to express some appreciation for the red and black half of the city who are understandably happy that Manchester City beat Inter in the Istanbul final last month.

“I’ve gotta admit though the Milan fans have been very nice while we’ve been here. Thank you for all your love and respect.”
 
AC Milan are not just focusing on rebuilding the midfield after Sandro Tonali’s exit, with the attacking department needing some attention too.

Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) this morning writes about two names in particular: Daichi Kamada and Samuel Chukwueze. The former is available on a free after his deal at Eintracht Frankfurt ended, while the latter has a deal at Villarreal expiring next year.

Milan are looking at both players, but will only be able to sign one after the purchase of Ruben Loftus-Cheek because he has occupied one of the non-EU slots meaning that only one remains unless there is an exit.

Milan are serious about Chukwueze, who Stefano Pioli is keen because he wants a fast and strong winger to work on the other flank as a compliment to Rafael Leao.

Contacts between the parties continue to try to lower the economic demands of Villarreal, who want €30m, while the Rossoneri are aiming to close at €20m and have the green light from the player.

Should the Chukwueze attempt fail, then Milan’s plans would turn to Kamada. The Japan international has had a verbal agreement with Milan for over a month with a four-year contract worth €3m net per season ready to be signed.

However, things have slowed down because of the non-EU slot issue so for the time being things have cooled, while waiting for news on Chukwueze.

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Rafael Leao’s number switch was made official yesterday as the winger will now take on the iconic No.10 shirt with AC Milan.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes how on Leao’s Instagram profile there is a constant stream of vacation updates, the latest being off the coast of Isla Mujeres in Mexico.

However, there are also Milan updates and in a story Leao confirmed two things. The first is that he will switch from the No.17 shirt to the No.10 vacated by Brahim Diaz, as was rumoured at the time of his extension.

The other is in the name he will wear, as he will no longer be ‘R.LEÃO’ but will be ‘RAFA LEÃ’. Beyond the new look, Leao knows that he will have an increasingly central role with the Rossoneri.

Thus, he smiles. In all the social posts of the last few days he is happy and carefree, enjoying the sea with his family and playing games in the water with friends.

The ongoing negotiations and rumours regarding the construction of the Milan squad ahead of next season do not disturb him, nor does Sporting CP’s statement yesterday regarding wanting over €45m from Lille.
 
Arda Güler appears to be slipping out of AC Milan’s grasp with Barcelona and Real Madrid formulating offers to Fenerbahce, a report claims.

As our colleagues at SempreMilan.it write, Güler was and is a profile that Geoffrey Moncada and the Milan management really admire and the release clause of €17.5m represented a tempting opportunity for the Rossoneri.

Several attempts were made to win the race to sign the Turkish teenager. However, the high commission requests from his father have discouraged them and now it seems a move to Spain could be on the cards.

According to reports from Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have made an offer to Fenerbahce that would see them pay part of the release clause immediately, but Güler would stay for another year in Turkey. The remainder would be paid at the start of the following season.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, have proposed paying the clause over 24 months in three instalments: 8,750,000 euros (50%) upon signing; 4,375,000 (25%) within the first 12 months and another 4,375,000 at the end of the two years.
 
The main emphasis of AC Milan’s summer transfer window continues to be how they will restructure their midfield department after Sandro Tonali’s €80m sale.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes that Tonali will be heading to Newcastle United and Ismael Bennacer will be out until at least November after his knee injury while in January he could then participate in the African Cup with Algeria.

That leaves Milan with a midfield that needs rebuilding, and it started with Ruben Loftus-Cheek who joined on a four-year contract earlier in the week as the first notable summer signing.

Now, the Milan management want to follow the signing of the Englishman by adding Yunus Musah and Tijjani Rejinders for a more well-rounded department that has physicality but also athleticism and dynamism.

The mission for Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada is to make Milan an aggressive, vertical and fast team, both in midfield and on the flanks. Once the €80m guaranteed from the sale of Tonali has been cashed in, they will have the funds to reshape the squad.

Musah is a versatile talent that Pioli could shape according to team needs. At the age of 20 he already has three seasons behind him from over thirty appearances (a total of 108 games at Valencia).

He combines power and technique, but because of this Valencia do not want to go below the valuation of €25m. Milan, strengthened by the agreement they have with the player, aim to close for less.

The distance is not unbridgeable and contacts could happen to close the deal for the USA international next week. The majority of the transfer market budget will go to midfield as per the paper, which is where Reijnders comes in.

He can play in the middle of a midfield trio or as part of a double pivot, while the Dutchman has agreed terms with Milan over a contract worth €1.7m net per season, but AZ Alkmaar want €25-30m to sell while the offer is €18-20m.

A decisive week awaits for Reijnders too in understanding if the parties will be able to reach an agreement and if bonuses, as often happens, will be decisive. The player’s agent will facilitate contacts between the clubs, expected from Monday onwards.

Davide Frattesi continues to be the subject of intrigue too, even if Milan would have to ‘proceed at speed on a winding road’ because of the competition from Inter, who have been on pole for some time.

The Rossoneri will try a possible acceleration during the week and could also attempt to include Tommaso Pobega in the deal, as a partial counterpart, because Frattesi’s valuation is considered too high by Milan.
 
AC Milan continue to examine various options to try and reinforce their attacking department and Boulaye Dia is the latest idea, a report claims.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes this morning that Milan will try to strengthen the attack and they are looking at the podium of the top scorers in the last Serie A season. Not Victor Osimhen who was number one, nor Lautaro Martinez, but Boulaye Dia.

He scored an impressive 16 goals in the league season that has just ended. It was his first in Italy but he had no difficulty adapting, scoring against weaker sides like Sampdoria, Verona and Empoli but also against Atalanta, Roma, Napoli and Milan.

He has repaid the trust of Salernitana who signed him on a paid loan last summer for €1m with an option to buy from €12m from Villarreal. Two days ago he was officially bought permanently, becoming the most expensive signing in the club’s history.

However, his stay could be short lived. For €25m – the value of his release clause – he would be free to leave. The Rossoneri are reflecting on the possibility of joining Roma, Fiorentina and foreign clubs in the race.

The Senegal international is 26 so entering his prime years, but the price tag is negotiable and his salary absolutely within reach. He would gladly join Milan, and the fans like him too.

There is one way to further reduce the price: insert a counterpart. Salernitana (and other clubs) like Daniel Maldini, who has returned from his loan at Spezia. Lorenzo Colombo – who has returned from Lecce – is another name.

Dia is a solution that today remains in the background with Gianluca Scamacca and Alvaro Morata ahead. However, there are difficulties in landing the duo so things have cooled down a bit due to West Ham’s asking price for the former and the salary the latter earns.
 
🚨 Wolves have rejected a €35m bid from Napoli for defender Max Kilman.

(Source: David Ornstein)
 
In the next 48 hours #Milan will deliver an official offer to #Villareal for #Chukwueze , the Spanish company is asking for 30 million despite the contract expiring in 2024. Milan will try with a 20 million offer. The difference could come with the bonuses.
[ @cmdotcom ]
 
🔵⚪🔵🚨 EXCL: Chelsea have received written offer from Lyon for Christian Pulisic. €25m (+ meaningful sell-on still being negotiated): a level #CFC would find acceptable. Good relations with Textor & #OlympiqueLyonnais via Malo Gusto deal @TheAthleticFC #USMNT
 
AC Milan are continuing to probe various midfield options and they are in talks with Valencia over Yunus Musah, according to a report.

According to today’s edition of Corriere dello Sport (via PianetaMilan), Musah has already reached an economic agreement with Milan over a four-year contract at €2m net per season.

That is a good starting point for Milan, but an agreement with Valencia is still missing, the club with which the player is under contract for another three years but who need to try and sell players.

Milan have informed that LaLiga side that they will be sending an official offer very soon and that it will be around €20m, but the belief is that they will stick to their current asking price of €25m.

Despite this, Musah is convinced that he can seize the opportunity to join Milan because he feels it is the perfect next step for his career. Inter are also after him, but in the background.

An interesting note is that the 20-year-old already speaks Italian after having lived in Castelfranco Veneto for ten years growing up, meaning he also has an Italian passport.
 
One of the focus points for the AC Milan management ahead of the summer window is to improve the right wing, and the gears are moving in talks over two targets.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), Chukwueze could soon become the sixth Nigerian player in the history of Milan after Taye Taiwo, Taribo West, Aliyu Datti, Kinsgley Umunegbu and Nnamdi Oduamadi.

Today, Milan will start negotiations with Villarreal to see if the conditions exist to get around the obstacles, which essentially means lowering their asking price and moving towards a permanent deal.

The 24-year-old seems the perfect fit for Milan because of his age and his profile, given that Stefano Pioli wants a winger who has explosive pace and an eye for goal, to take some of the burden away from Rafael Leao.

After 207 total matches, 37 goals and 31 assists for Villarreal, the player wants to join Milan. He has already said yes to the Rossoneri’s offer, attracted by the big ambitions and the equally substantial figures of his €3m net per season contract (plus bonuses).

The LaLiga side want €25m plus bonuses, with almost certainty of being able to reach €30m. Milan do not want to go too far beyond the threshold of €20m – with the possible addition of performance-related bonuses – given he has a year on his deal.

The clubs – with CEO Furlani representing the Rossoneri – will start talking in the next few hours with the aim of reaching an agreement.
 
AC Milan are in the market for a new right-back and are in active talks with one of their targets, according to a report.

While there might be other priorities for the management to address such as the central midfield area, the right wing department and signing a new striker to help Olivier Giroud out, the right-back role is one to watch.

Alessandro Florenzi’s physical condition will be of great concern to the staff given he has missed big chunks of the last two seasons, while the man brought in to provide cover for him – Sergino Dest – has returned to Barcelona after a disappointing loan spell.

According to the latest from Fabrizio Romano, Milan have both Wilfried Singo and Iván Fresneda on their list as they search for a ‘new right-back’.

He adds that talks took place for Singo yesterday too, implying that the interest is very concrete. Fresneda meanwhile is also appreciated by Barcelona, but they are ‘still waiting for the deal to advance’.
 
A big season awaits for Stefano Pioli and his AC Milan side, with the ownership and the management beginning the summer by giving him more powers.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall how last summer the Carabinieri were needed to get him out of the shops and free him from the siege of Milan fans who gratefully sang ‘Pioli is on fire’. This summer – after some time in the Maldives – the Milan boss chose a very private location in Crete.

He has met very few people and, knowing his nature, he probably enjoyed it much more this year, even without a Scudetto victory to celebrate.

Paolo Maldini, Ricky Massara, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sandro Tonali have disappeared which makes things a bit less stable than he was perhaps anticipating, but in a week he will be back on the training ground to get to work with the team.

Losing Maldini and Tonali within weeks of the last season ending has rocked the Milan fan base, and Pioli knows that he starts against the wind of disappointment.

However, he must focus on what he can control, and so far that has yielded a league title for the first time in 11 years and a Champions League semi-final for the first time in 16.

In the moment of maximum confusion, it was Zlatan who nailed the CEO Gazidis in front of the team, asking: “You have to tell us what future awaits us. Should we renew the rental of our houses?”

The Swede helped Leao and Tonali get a thick sking. Maldini and Massara, with a meagre budget, have identified Scudetto-worthy profiles. Pioli, Maldini and Massara, in the most critical moments, in the gaps in ownership, were one.

Maldini, Massara and Ibra will not be at Milanello next Monday. It does not mean that there will be a void around Pioli because CEO Giorgio Furlani will be present, and owner Gerry Cardinale has always held his work in high esteem.

Cardinale has entrusted Pioli with the role of manager more than being just a head coach, which seems to allude to tasks beyond those he had before. More involvement equals more responsibility, so the challenge promises to be difficult but also rewarding on a professional level.

Pioli is the first to know that if his new Milan were to start the season slowly, then everything would be thrust into doubt. Tonali and Maldini leaving would come back to the surface, and the construction of the squad scrutinised.

Last season, the team had to weather a crisis. From 8 January to 5 February Milan went through a terrible storm of seven games without a win and 18 goals conceded in that period. Maldini and Massara – also aware of their responsibilities for an imperfect market – formed a protective shell around the team.

He overturned that difficult patch even at the cost of distorting his principles with the three-man defence, but he found an impermeability that was the basis for the recovery. Slowly things began to return such as Rafael Leao’s form, and a Champions League semi-final was the result.

The feeling is that in the event of similar storms, Pioli would now be much more exposed to lightning than the ownership and the others would remain under their umbrellas.
 
AC Milan face strong competition in their attempts to sign Christian Pulisic as Lyon have submitted a substantially higher offer, a report claims.

According to The Athletic, Milan made their first verbal offer for Pulisic which was worth €14m, and it is an amount not deemed enough by Chelsea who want a fair bit more in order to part with the winger.

Yesterday, Lyon made their second bid for Pulisic which was worth €25m in addition to a significant sell-on clause that is still being negotiated. The Blues would be inclined to accept such a bid, and are ‘reluctant to let him exit for lower’.

Chelsea are on good terms with the Ligue 1 side after they signed Malo Gusto from them, while Lyon also have an American owner in John Textor.

Pulisic has scored 26 goals in 145 appearances for Chelsea following his big-money move from Borussia Dortmund, and it now seems Milan will have to up the stakes or they risk missing out on another major target.
 
Our Substack is changing and we want you to join us! Down below, we explain the changes as well as how you can get unfiltered and inside access to our latest AC Milan content.

Since we started our Substack back in 2022 – mainly putting out our weekly newsletter but also additional bonus content – we have grown to over 5000 subscribers. First of all, grazie mille to all of you, and we are glad to see that you enjoy the content we publish here. But to ensure that you will continue to enjoy it, our bonus content will be behind a paywall moving forward.

Before you close the article, give us a couple of minutes of your time to explain why we have made this decision and what the paid subscription will include. Over the last few months, we have done our very best to deliver high-quality content to your inboxes, but also unfiltered content that we for various reasons cannot publish on our website.

Like anything else in life, it takes a lot of time and resources to produce these articles, not to mention the bonus podcast. Therefore, we want to ensure that we can continue to bring you the content you deserve by putting it behind a paywall, which will give us the opportunity to work even harder and reveal even more juicy news.

So, what will this paid subscription include? For just €5 a month or €50 per year, you will get…

➤ The weekly newsletter

➤ At least two bonus articles per week

➤ At least one episode of the bonus podcast per week

➤ Early access to exclusives

➤ Ability to suggest future content


The newsletter, as stated in the photo above, will remain free and that means you can continue to enjoy our weekly update without a paid subscription. But if you really like the newsletter, a paid subscription is a great way to show your appreciation, plus you will get access to all of the bonus stuff!

The paid subscribers will also get the first crack at suggesting what our future content should be. For example, if there’s a topic you really want to know more about, you can simply suggest it and we will abide in the best way possible. Our breakdown of Milan’s balance sheet and budget was an example of that, but that particular one is also an example of an article that took a long time to produce.

Finally, there will also be a ‘founding member option’, which is a yearly plan that allows you to pay a suggested amount of your own but at most €100. You will then get all of the bonus content, as well as a shoutout on the podcast and a permanent 20% code to use on our RedBubble store.

If you’re interested in a paid subscription, great! We would love to have you as our reader/listener of the bonus content. If you’re not quite convinced yet, not to worry! The newsletter will be there to serve the basic needs of your Milan fandom, and upgrading to a paid plan will always be one click away.

The post SempreMilan Substack announcement
 
Our Substack is changing and we want you to join us! Down below, we explain the changes as well as how you can get unfiltered and inside access to our latest AC Milan content.

Since we started our Substack back in 2022 – mainly putting out our weekly newsletter but also additional bonus content – we have grown to over 5000 subscribers. First of all, grazie mille to all of you, and we are glad to see that you enjoy the content we publish here. But to ensure that you will continue to enjoy it, our bonus content will be behind a paywall moving forward.

Before you close the article, give us a couple of minutes of your time to explain why we have made this decision and what the paid subscription will include. Over the last few months, we have done our very best to deliver high-quality content to your inboxes, but also unfiltered content that we for various reasons cannot publish on our website.

Like anything else in life, it takes a lot of time and resources to produce these articles, not to mention the bonus podcast. Therefore, we want to ensure that we can continue to bring you the content you deserve by putting it behind a paywall, which will give us the opportunity to work even harder and reveal even more juicy news.

So, what will this paid subscription include? For just €5 a month or €50 per year, you will get…

➤ The weekly newsletter

➤ At least two bonus articles per week

➤ At least one episode of the bonus podcast per week

➤ Early access to exclusives

➤ Ability to suggest future content


The newsletter, as stated in the photo above, will remain free and that means you can continue to enjoy our weekly update without a paid subscription. But if you really like the newsletter, a paid subscription is a great way to show your appreciation, plus you will get access to all of the bonus stuff!

The paid subscribers will also get the first crack at suggesting what our future content should be. For example, if there’s a topic you really want to know more about, you can simply suggest it and we will abide in the best way possible. Our breakdown of Milan’s balance sheet and budget was an example of that, but that particular one is also an example of an article that took a long time to produce.

Finally, there will also be a ‘founding member option’, which is a yearly plan that allows you to pay a suggested amount of your own but at most €100. You will then get all of the bonus content, as well as a shoutout on the podcast and a permanent 20% code to use on our RedBubble store.

If you’re interested in a paid subscription, great! We would love to have you as our reader/listener of the bonus content. If you’re not quite convinced yet, not to worry! The newsletter will be there to serve the basic needs of your Milan fandom, and upgrading to a paid plan will always be one click away.

The post SempreMilan Substack announcement
 
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