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It ended up being quite the deadline day for AC Milan. Even though no signings were made, with the Rossoneri stopping at six, there were several back-and-forths on the outgoing front. Bondo’s agent was at Casa Milan, Fofana was one step away from Lyon but ultimately joined Sevilla, and Tomori was reinstated in the squad.

It’s obviously not good that Bondo is still on the payroll and that Fofana only left on a dry loan (and without the entire salary covered), but the main focus has to be on Tomori. After being excluded from the training and matchday squad, the Englishman is now back at Amorim’s disposal.

A late move to Fulham was being evaluated in the dying hours of the window when Milan contacted Tomori’s agent about reinstating him in the squad. The injury of Gabbia, as well as the failed attempts to sign Inacio or Tiago Gabriel, prompted the surprising decision by the Rossoneri.

I’m not going to argue with the logic here, because numerically (and quality-wise) the decision does make a lot of sense, but the execution can definitely be questioned. Just last week, Amorim made it very clear that “if certain players stay, they will not be part of the squad”. A hard line that was evidently quite soft.

In our last newsletter, I wrote “it’s a bit of a shame to see Tomori leaving like this” after playing such a big part in the 2021-22 Scudetto. I’m glad he didn’t actually end up leaving like that, and I’m sure the player himself is over the moon too given how much he loves this club and the city. Maybe there won’t be any hard feelings.

⏰ Good timing, tough game

After what can be described as a perfect start to the season, clinching six out of six points, a tough challenge awaits Milan and Amorim this Sunday: Juventus away from home. While the Bianconeri’s dominance of the 2010s is well and truly gone, even in this fixture, I doubt that the Rossoneri will frame it that way.

Every game so far has been against ‘the best team in the world’, at least as far as Amorim is concerned, and that mindset is even more justified now. Because just as Milan have started the season well, so have Juventus. They beat Frosinone by the odd goal in the opener and followed that up with a 2-0 win against Parma.

Kolo Muani has returned after a spell at Tottenham, signed permanently this time for just over €40m, and Vicario has also left Spurs (but on loan) to add some much-needed security between the sticks. He has already come up big, making a fantastic save in the most recent game.

Adding the likes of Alajbegovic and Lucumi to the mix, on top of the decent squad they already had with no major departures, Spalletti’s side has the potential to surprise many this season. Luckily for Milan, the timing of this weekend’s game could have been better for the Turin side.

Key players like Yildiz and Thuram will definitely miss the game, while McKennie and Cambiaso are very much in doubt. Milan will be without Gabbia, as mentioned, but the addition of Tomori should help and Bartesaghi can also play as a centre-back if needed.

We might even get to see the new signings Omari Hutchinson and Diego Moreira. The latter is surely knocking on the door after remaining on the bench against both Torino and Venezia.

📋 Milan Bulletin

Below, we have collected the most important Milan news from the last week, including our longer reads and newspaper reports.

⚽ Match Results

Sergio Navarro didn’t have a great start to life as the new head coach of Milan Futuro, losing his first competitive game. His side are out of the Coppa Italia Serie D at the first hurdle as they were beaten 3-1 by Sant’Angelo on Sunday, following two late knockout blows from the away side.

Milan Primavera were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Cesena on Sunday, though they did come from behind to secure it. Giovanni Renna’s side responded immediately to going behind as Nolli fired home in the 20th minute, and both teams missed chances to take all the points.

📰 Latest News

After seven years, Milan and Leao finally went their separate ways. The terms of the €38m+ agreement have been outlined, while the winger penned a touching farewell message to the club and its fans. Meanwhile, Leao-mania seemed to have gripped Istanbul, with a huge amount of shirts sold.

A couple of good interviews worth reading: Davide Ancelotti spoke about what he learned from his father Carlo’s time at Milan and the chances of coaching the club in the future, while Alexandre Pato - who turned 37 on Wednesday - provided an optimistic outlook on the Rossoneri’s title hopes, Amorim, Ramos and more.

Mercato round-up: Milan are keeping tabs on a Red Star sensation; there was late confusion regarding a possible centre-back signing; the reasons for walking away from Nwaneri and instead signing Hutchinson have been revealed; a Real Madrid talent remains a target even in vie of January; Rabiot’s renewal is high on the agenda.

🔍 Longer Reads

Our longer reads from over the past week include a look at how the Amorim era at Milan has begun with a smile, as well as a recap of all the summer signings made, the tactical analysis from the win against Venezia and the five main talking points from it too.

🔒 Bonus Content

That’s another mercato in the bag! The summer window always tends to be a lively one and this was no different, even if Milan’s pace fluctuated throughout the course of it. Not to mention that management wasn’t even in place until the end of June, forcing them to play catch-up with the rest.

Regardless of the fluctuating pace, however, the Rossoneri did end up spending quite a lot on the direct orders of Gerry Cardinale. The owner took a much more prominent role than in previous summers, more or less saying that things would be done the right way with him fully in charge.

Well, did he get things right? €74m spent on Goncalo Ramos, €28m on Mario Gila, and €50m on Diego Moreira. The American opted for the complete opposite approach compared to his previous colleagues at the club, identifying a select few targets before opening his chequebook to get them.

That was refreshing to many, including yours truly, as the years of spending €20-30m on multiple decent players clearly didn’t have the desired effect. On the other hand, now that the window has closed, some doubts have been expressed about Milan’s squad depth and the number of signings made.

What do the financials say? Considering that Milan aren’t competing in the Champions League this season, combined with the hefty amounts spent, most of you have probably guessed already that the Rossoneri operated a little above their means this summer. Hence why the party stopped at six signings too.

Short version

• Milan made a total of six signings during the mercato, spending a whopping €162.5m plus bonuses in the process. Between amortisation and gross wages, annual costs of €65m were added to the accounts, with Goncalo Ramos being the most expensive at €24.05m in total.

• Milan parted ways with a total of nine players during the mercato, removing annual costs of €42m in the process. An additional €44m was collected from capital gains and other revenue, receiving a nice €14m boost from Tijjani Reijnders out of all people.

• While the above might look like an €21m surplus for 2026-27, Milan are not in the Champions League and should thus collect around €27m instead of €60m from UEFA. That’s a €33m difference without even considering the ticket sales and sponsorship differences too, bringing it back to a deficit.

• Milan’s squad costs are currently at €232m between amortisation and gross wages, which is much higher than the usual €200m (give or take). Warren Bondo is yet to be sold, even if it wouldn’t be a huge boost, and Fikayo Tomori’s reinstatement (instead of selling him) hasn’t helped either.

Figures of the signings

All of the first team signings have been highlighted below, and you can find the full details in the image as well.

• Goncalo Ramos (€74m from PSG): €14.80m amortisation and €9.25m gross salary = €24.05 in annual costs on the accounts

• Mario Gila (€28m from Lazio): €5.60m amortisation and €6.55m gross salary = €12.15m in annual costs on the accounts

• Andrej Kostic (€3.5m from Partizan Belgrade): €0.70m amortisation and €0.93m gross salary = €1.63m in annual costs on the accounts

• Sankhoun Diawara (€3m from Troyes): €0.60m amortisation and €0.93m gross salary = €1.53m in annual costs on the accounts

• Diego Moreira (€50m from Strasbourg): €10m amortisation and €5.55m gross salary = €15.55m in annual costs on the accounts

• Omari Hutchinson (loan from Nottingham Forest): €4m loan fee and €3.70m gross salary = €7.70m in costs on the accounts

Transfer fees: €162.5m
Annual cost on the accounts: €65m

As said, while Milan didn’t actually make that many signings, they spent a lot of money. If you exclude the youngsters, only four signings were made and that’s very low compared to the ten made last summer (2025). Only Adrien Rabiot and Luka Modric were successful signings from those, though, so quantity isn’t always a good thing.

Getting into the nitty-gritty of the figures, Gila benefits from the Growth Decree and that’s why his gross salary is so low despite being on the same net salary as Ramos. Kudos to Lazio as well for getting €28m plus bonuses for the Spaniard, considering that he had just one year left on his contract with the Biancocelesti.

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You know me. In the bonus articles, I prefer to take a closer look at one topic and one topic only, but I couldn’t help myself this time. There were just too many things to discuss (that didn’t warrant an article each): TV rights negligence, true colours of Milan’s bomb squad, and DAZN news involving Gerry Cardinale.

Before we get started, I just want to say that I will be doing the annual summer mercato recap next week. Depending on the outcome of the Rafael Leao negotiations, there might be another financial bonus before then too, but the point is that I haven’t forgotten about the mercato.

The window closes at 20:00 Italy time on Tuesday next week, so there is still quite a lot of time for Milan to make things happen. We all know just how much can happen even on deadline day, so I will come back to mercato after then. For now, therefore, let’s focus on a few other things.

Short Version

• It’s not exactly news, but just one game into the season, we have seen further proof of how Serie A is neglecting its own product. While Serie B has introduced fancy scoreboards tailored to each team, inspired by the Premier League, there have been no changes to the matchday package in the first tier.

• One player in the ‘bomb squad’ has packed his bags, but three remain. It has been reported that Ruben Amorim was the one who decided to exclude them, but it’s not unreasonable to think that financials also played a part. Last season, the players in question were among the most expensive on Milan’s accounts.

• The RedBird co-founded company EverPass, which helps rights holders distribute to commercial venues, has been acquired by DAZN. As a result, RedBird and Gerry Cardinale are now shareholders in DAZN. The media company has already invested a lot in Serie A and it looks like that will continue in the future.

TV rights negligence

I want to start with the TV rights. I might be boring you at this point, having discussed the topic at length before (most recently three weeks ago), but it’s hard to look past what is going on right now. Many of us (foolishly, in hindsight) hoped that the league would improve for the 2026-27 season, but it would be fair to say that absolutely nothing has happened.

Last season, the league definitely upped the production on the social media side and also introduced the Referee Cam, showing signs of how the league can operate where there is some ambition in the organisation. Those changes actually resulted in some positive momentum, but one round into the new season was enough to understand that the league still has a long way to go.

Just a few days before Inter’s game, i.e. the season opener, the scoreboard for Serie B was shared by fans on social media. While the default look perhaps isn’t that much better than Serie A, the goal version certainly is. Indeed, whenever a goal is scored, the board displays a nice animation that is tailored to the club in question.

As you can see in the image above, this is a simple but effective way of enhancing your product. Premier League does something similar and given the success of that league, you have to assume that it’s the right way to go. Serie A officials clearly don’t think so, as the cyan-coloured badge remains and that is so much worse than the alternative, as you can also see above.

It’s not just the scoreboard that has remained unchanged either, we are talking about pretty much the entire matchday package. More AI has been implemented in creating the graphics too, as admitted by the league, so the priority seems to be efficiency rather than quality. That’s a pretty slippery slope if you ask me, especially for a league that already has a poor product.

There have definitely been complaints about DAZN before, but this is also one of the first times that I’m seeing so many Italians complaining about the league’s production. When even they think that something isn’t modern enough, then you know that something is truly wrong. There are no excuses for Serie A here.

I really hope that Gerry Cardinale is keeping a close eye on this because, like him or not, he’s an expert when it comes to TV rights and entertainment in general. One of the next topics in this article is actually about that, given a big deal that was recently completed, but first I want to touch on something completely different.

Bomb squad’s true colours

If you read the latest edition of our newsletter, you will know the term ‘bomb squad’. Just as a recap, this is usually what fans and media outlets call a group of players that are no longer wanted at their current club. In order to get them to leave, the club then excludes them from training and match squads, leaving them on their own with one or a couple of trainers to stay fit.

In Milan’s case, we are talking about the likes of Youssouf Fofana, Santiago Gimenez, and Fikayo Tomori. Christopher Nkunku was part of this group as well until earlier this week, when he completed a loan move to RB Leipzig. For each of these, the motivation was that Ruben Amorim didn’t have any roles for them in his project, having assessed them during pre-season.

It sounds perfectly reasonable, especially since Amorim and Milan decided to wait until after the third friendly of the summer, but there are clearly other motivations playing a part here. In other words, I’m more and more convinced that the decisions weren’t just made by the Portuguese manager. And if they were, he was surely a bit influenced by what I’m about to say next.

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It would be fair to say that most Milan fans, even the ones who have been very sceptical this summer, have started to warm up following the win against Torino on Sunday evening. Successful pressing, control of the game, and individual brilliance on top of that. It’s easy to see why there is optimism!

After a season of very pragmatic football, which didn’t exactly help put Milan highlights all over the social media feeds, the consensus is that the Rossoneri are making a 180-degree turn with Ruben Amorim. The importance of working as a team remains, but now how they clinch the three points also matters.

I think it’s great to see such enthusiasm among the fans; there hasn’t exactly been plenty of that since the failure to qualify for the Champions League. Even earlier this summer, there were great doubts about Amorim and the new management put in place, so the positive start could definitely have a huge impact.

Having said all of the above, allow me to be a grumpy old man for a second. I mentioned the highlights on social media, with fans praising Milan’s build-up play. Again, this is hugely positive as our build-up was dire last season, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. It’s just one game.

In fact, I would argue that Friday’s game against Venezia is more of a litmus test, and that is despite the previous difficulties in the Torino fixture (and recent season opener failures). Why? Because Milan will be playing in front of a sold-out San Siro. I want to see them keep up the pressing and attractive play in a game like that.

We can all remember how Milan had a tendency to become very timid on their home turf last season, especially against the smaller sides…

💣 Our very own bomb squad

On Monday afternoon, Youssouf Fofana shared a photo of himself, Santiago Gimenez, Christopher Nkunku, and Fikayo Tomori on Instagram. Aka the bomb squad. The quartet posed for the photo on one of the Milanello pitches, training separately from the rest of the Milan squad due to transfer reasons.

Just in case you are unfamiliar with the term, ‘bomb squad’ refers to a group of players who no longer have a future at their current club, prompting the club to exclude them from both normal group training and matches altogether. Chelsea have been experts at this lately after their reckless spending and managerial changes.

In short, it’s a way of forcing the players to accept transfers elsewhere, knowing that they won’t get any sort of playing time if they remain. It doesn’t always work, as we saw with Divock Origi a few years ago (pain!), but it does look like there is enough interest for Milan to sell all of them before the window closes.

Nkunku has already left, as his move to RB Leipzig on a paid loan with an option to buy (€3m + €28m) was made official on Monday evening. In addition to it being an option rather than an obligation, Milan will also cover 50% of his salary. Not ideal, in other words, but at least he’s not staying like Origi.

Let’s see what will happen to the others, but kudos to the Rossoneri for making themselves very clear. It makes sense from a business point of view, but I have to admit that it’s a bit of a shame to see Tomori leaving like this. He played a big part in the Scudetto and has at least been decent lately too, but ah well…

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📋 Milan Bulletin

Below, we have collected the most important Milan news from the last week, including our longer reads and newspaper reports.

📰 Latest News

Milan Futuro are gearing up for their Coppa Italia Serie D game against Sant’Angelo on Sunday. In the meantime, the club released a fascinating video involving the head coach Sergio Navarro, who explained how he is encouraging players to direct the tactical preparation meetings by suggesting their ideas.

It has been a good couple of days for Milan against Torino, as the Primavera won their season-opener on Monday night, edging a five-goal thriller 3-2. Dotta was the man who scored a 92nd-minute winner for Giovanni Renna’s side, who had twice led and been pegged back by the Granata, while they were also down to 10 men by the time the winning goal went in.

There is a lot of buzz around Ruben Amorim after his first Serie A win. A report highlighted the immediate differences with Massimiliano Allegri that were on show, while Fabio Capello praised the performance in Turin. We broke down the Portuguese’s approach in our tactical analysis, while we also dived into five key talking points following the victory over Ignazio Abate’s men.

Mercato round-up: Milan have been linked with a late move for a Liverpool playmaker; the sales of three unwanted players are currently blocked; the hopes of signing a Sporting CP star remain; a Young Boys forward has ended up on the radar; Brahim Diaz is a candidate for a shock return; a Barcelona defender was offered by Jorge Mendes.

🔍 Longer Reads

Our longer reads from over the past week include a look at where Milan stand in relation to the UEFA squad list rules, a scouting report on the new €50m+ signing Diego Moreira, and the SempreMilan staff 2026-27 Serie A predictions.

🔒 Bonus Content

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I don’t know about you all, but it feels like the summer has flown by. In just two days, Milan will start their 2026-27 season, hoping to make up for the top-four fiasco that is still fresh in our minds (at least mine). Flown by or not, it’s clear that a lot has happened in the three months since the season ended.

Ruben Amorim was named the new head coach, some unexpected player decisions were made, and several high-profile signings have arrived. The mercato is obviously far from over as far as the Rossoneri are concerned, but I would argue that most of the pieces have been laid out, with the puzzle almost complete.

Yes, there are many sales that need to be completed, but it doesn’t really affect what we will see on the pitch this Sunday. If it had been the other way around, i.e. that many signings were still needed, then it would have been a different question. Anyway, all of this means that we can approach the game in a different way.

Instead of heading to the Stadio Olimpico completely swept up in our own thoughts, by virtue of having so much to do, we can actually enjoy the intrigues of the fixture. Milan may not have drawn Inter, Juve, or any of the other major rivals in the opening clash, but this is a pretty good one too in my opinion.

I briefly mentioned some of the talking points in the newsletter for the week, from the Ignazio Abate controversy to the pressure on Amorim, but I feel like they all deserve a few more thoughts. And background for that matter, especially when it comes to Abate’s past with the club.

Abate’s natural (but forced) goodbye

We need to start with the man of the hour. No, not Amorim, but rather Abate. The 39-year-old is the second-youngest manager in the league, tied with Como’s Cesc Fabregas and beaten by Parma’s Carlos Cuesta (31!). That is incredibly impressive in a league which tends to favour experience and wisdom, so any manager who does well at that age deserves applause.

Abate started his coaching career just five years ago, taking over Milan’s U16 side, and he brought them to the play-offs final in his first season. That subsequently earned him a promotion to the Primavera side in his second summer as a coach, and it would be safe to say that he hit the ground running. The league outcome wasn’t brilliant (12th place), but he did a lot better in the UEFA Youth League.

Relying on many youngsters, consistently giving them a chance regardless of the pedigree of the games, he brought them to the semi-finals of the tournament. Out of the nine games played in total, they won an impressive six, drew two, and lost just one (the semi-final). The truth is that it could have gone even better if it hadn’t been for some mistakes in the last game.

The following season, Abate improved upon the above by reaching the final with his side. Ten games, seven wins and three defeats that time, all the while (once again) relying on much younger players compared to the other teams in the tournament. The final league position also changed for the better, finishing in 6th to reach the Scudetto play-offs (knocked out after a draw, due to regulations).

In short, we are talking about two extraordinary first seasons with the Primavera, not to mention that it was only the second and third season as a coach in his career! But why on earth wasn’t he then promoted to Milan Futuro for the 2024-25 season? His contract with the Primavera had just expired, making it perfect timing for the new gig, so why did he leave?

What actually happened is not 100% certain as both sides have recapped the matter differently, but one thing is true: they didn’t part ways on the best of terms, and that is what led to the departure in the first place. To understand it all, we need to look at the players who were in the Primavera squad under Abate’s reign.

Diego Sia? Yes. Kevin Zeroli? Yes. Gabriele Alesi? Yes. These are some of the stars from that time, but if you ask the upper echelons of the Milan management, one name was missing: Maximilian Ibrahimovic. I assume that you can deduce which member of the management (technically a consultant?) didn’t share Abate’s opinion on the squad selection.

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At this point, I assume that most of you have seen the Diego Moreira news. If not, then the quick recap is that Milan have secured the versatile wing-back for €50m plus bonuses from Strasbourg. I will leave the player profile for the bonus podcast lads, but there are a couple of interesting things to note here.

The money aspect has to be discussed first, because if you look at the total spend so far, Moreira’s arrival takes it up to a whopping €150m. And that has only been spent on three players, excluding bonuses! If several €20-30m deals were the MO of the old management, then the strategy has clearly changed.

While I never doubted Milan’s financial strength, as explained in countless bonus articles, this has gone way beyond my imagination already. Not so much because of the total spend (it was €158m last summer), but because they have done it without any sales, in a financial year without Champions League revenue.

It’s risky, and certainly puts pressure on Ruben Amorim to deliver now that he’s been given the players he wanted, but Milan needed to try something new. The other thing worth mentioning is that all of these deals have been carried out in secrecy, with the news breaking just days before completion.

Gila was the only exception, mainly because he had already been linked with the club before, but it does suggest that Cardinale is very keen on avoiding transfer sagas in the media. Perhaps that is also why he has spent so much, not wasting any time on haggling back and forth.

⚽ Off we go!

Opening round. Torino away. Ignazio Abate as the opposing manager. There is a recipe for disaster if I have ever seen one! The season opener certainly won’t be an easy one for Amorim and his men, but at least the win against Man Utd has given them some much-needed confidence.

In the last five years, Milan have won three of their opening games, drawing one and losing one. That sounds like an okay record, but it’s worth considering that the draw and the defeat came in the last two seasons, meaning they could go 0 for 3 as far as wins are concerned on Sunday evening.

The fact that they are facing Torino away from home doesn’t fill me with much confidence either. Adrien Rabiot and Christian Pulisic helped us win that fixture last season, but before then, the Rossoneri had only won one of their last 12 games on away soil against Il Toro (the 0-7 win in 2021).

Abate’s arrival at the club cannot be overlooked either. Milan’s former Primavera manager was sort of pushed out of the club, ignored for the Serie C gig with the Futuro, and instantly achieved success with Ternana in the same league. Then he took a further step up, leading Juve Stabia to the play-offs in Serie B.

Don’t get me wrong, his appointment is still a bit of a gamble by Torino, but he has shown a lot of promise despite being such a young coach (39 years). I think most Milan fans actually want him to do as well as possible, but it’s just typical that we are facing his side in the opening round.

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📋 Milan Bulletin

Below, we have collected the most important Milan news from the last week, including our longer reads and newspaper reports.

📰 Latest News

Milan Futuro continued their pre-season with a friendly against the fellow Serie D side Oltrepò earlier today, coming away with a very impressive 6-2 win. In transfer news, Victor Eletu departed to join Pescara, while there were two operations involving goalkeepers: Leo Paul Bouyer renewed his deal, and Ilja Pantelin signed from TSC Bačka Topola.

The big news of the past few days has once again concerned the influence of the powerful agent Jorge Mendes. He is believed to have been the main orchestrator of the Diego Moreira deal and met the management at Casa Milan on Wednesday. On the table were potential targets - especially for the centre-back role - and some names that could leave.

There have been some great interviews from current squad members in recent days. Luka Modric spoke about his love for Milan and why it was easy to renew, while Samuel Chukwueze admitted he has been given a chance he must take. Goncalo Ramos discussed having ‘no doubts’ about joining, and Ardon Jashari was very positive about year two under Ruben Amorim.

Mercato round-up: Milan enquired about a Fiorentina defender but were rebuffed; Andrej Kostic has left on loan and David Odogu has departed too; an Arsenal winger remains a target; Nkunku appears to have numerous suitors; Gimenez’s move to Porto has hit a roadblock; Ricci has been offered to a side within Serie A; Milan and Juve are in talks over several names.

🔍 Longer Reads

Our longer reads from over the past week include a look at the seven players who could be wild cards in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system, a worried piece about why the long evaluation period may have set Milan back in the market, and an analysis on why Moreira’s versatility could make him the aspirin to various headaches.

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The art of selling players isn’t talked about enough. Or let me rephrase: the art of selling players isn’t talked about enough in general. As AC Milan fans, it’s something that we have discussed a lot in the last ten years or so, and it has been picked up once again this summer due to the current situation.

At the time of writing, a little over two weeks remain until the end of the transfer window. Given that it started at the beginning of July, i.e. six weeks ago, this should really be a period for the ‘perfecting’ business. Perhaps getting that signing you have worked on for weeks, or finally finding a new destination for one of your players.

For the Rossoneri, however, it feels like everything will happen in this period. Granted that the biggest issues were solved with Mario Gila and Goncalo Ramos earlier on, as far as the incoming front is concerned anyway, there are over ten sales (!) to make if everything lines up as they want it.

I’ll say that again: OVER TEN SALES. Some will leave on loan, so maybe I should change the word to departures, but it sounds more dramatic the other way, right? And a dramatic effect is exactly what I’m after here, because it cannot be overstated how difficult it is to sell that many players in such a short period of time, let alone to do it well.

Note: I didn’t add a short version this time as I felt the article was hard to summarise without losing nuance.

2025 and 2026. Like night and day?

Last summer, Igli Tare pulled Milan out of their chronic inability to sell properly, parting ways with an impressive 17 players during the summer. That even excludes those who left because of expiring contracts, and most importantly, the former sporting director managed to bank a lot of cash in the process.

€20m for Noah Okafor. €36m for Malick Thiaw. €19m for Alex Jimenez. €25m for Theo Hernandez (with an expiring contract). That is the art of selling. Sure, some of the players who left on loan with an option perhaps didn’t pan out as nicely, but Milan did still bank cash in those instances thanks to loan fees and wages covered. It helped make up for a lack of Champions League revenue without a doubt.

As I said earlier, it’s not like Milan have been great at monetising their departures in the past. Sandro Tonali was the first big sale in a very long time, surpassing the €30m mark for the first time since Thiago Silva (€42m) in 2012. At least if we exclude Leo Bonucci’s move back to Juventus, because that was more a trade than anything, with Mattia Caldara going the other way (sigh).

With that background in mind, it’s fair to say that the sale of Tonali changed something. It was as if we all went “oh, are we that type of club?”. An eye-opener not just for the fans, but also the Milan management. Registering a capital gain wasn’t just a myth after all, or something that only Juventus could do thanks to shady business!

This came with mixed reactions, as you would expect, but both sides of the coin are true. 100% you should see it positively, because it means that Milan can actually nurture and create value to sustain themselves in today’s football ecosystem. 100% you should also see it negatively, because it means parting ways with likeable (or at least quality) players.

Thankfully, there is a middle ground that doesn’t necessarily result in just selling your star players. With enough medium sales, say in the €20m region, you can come a long way. That is exactly what Tare managed to do last summer. Thiaw ended up in another bracket but still strengthens my point: if you are good at selling, you can collect a lot without instantly upsetting the fans.

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