By: Oliver Fisher
AC Milan are getting ready for another big summer transfer window, and there will be a big budget to match thanks to prize money and sales according to a report.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, there will be ‘€130m for the relaunch’ available to the Milan directors with a simple target in mind: to bring the team back to the top of the table and from there get the second star.
It will be a rich summer and it could be even more so, for example if Milan manage to lift the Europa League in Dublin. It will not weigh as much as the Champions League, but it guarantees another bunch of millions.
In any case, the club’s strategy with regards to sustainability is to reinvest the revenues generated by the team on the market. If one hundred (at least) will be the size of the summer budget, exactly half will be committed to the centre-forward.
European guarantees
Fifty million: this is the income guaranteed by participation in the new Champions League alone, more crowded in terms of the amount of teams that will compete but also increasingly richer.
This is the reason why the club considers it essential to constantly frequent the top European club competition. In addition to the guaranteed profit, there is the guarantee of appearing on screens all over the world: competitiveness and entertainment are the basis of Gerry Cardinale’s project.
For the owners, the season would be positive if a top four finish were secured, which means that being currently second and well inside the UCL places has the management feeling quite calm about the present moment.
The judgment obviously also affects the future of head coach Stefano Pioli, who will be judged on other factors too such as the result of the derby next month and how far the team get in the Europa League.
Final victory
Speaking of the Europa League, the ‘other’ European competition is less glittering but it would allow Milan to display the only missing trophy on the showcase if they were to win it, and the kitty would rise by €40m.
It is not the money that the Champions League brings, but still a small treasure: the club have already earned half a million from accessing the playoffs, €1.2m for the passage to the round of 16 and will get €1.8m for clashing with Roma in the quarter-finals.
Access to the semi-finals would bring in another €2.8m, then it is €4.6m for the final and €4m as a prize for the winner. In theory, €14.9m is the total to which ticket revenues and qualification for the European Super Cup (another €3.5m for that) must be added.
A Europa League win would also end up easing the Rossoneri’s pain in view of the probable Nerazzurri Scudetto celebration, so there is some sporting pride to play for in addition to the money.
Loans and sales
Milan will also be able to count upon the money that Atalanta and Bologna pay for Charles De Ketelaere and Alexis Saelemaekers to make their loans permanent, which would be €26m and €10m respectively. Then, €4m could arrive from Daniel Maldini’s sale.
De Ketelaere did not repay the expense that Milan made and in any case he is not part of the club’s future plans. On the right flank, Saelemaekers’ territory, Milan now have Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukwueze so the Belgian can leave too.
More or less another €40m will arrive from loans being made permanent sales for a total that would rise to €130m (€50m from Champions League qualification, €40m from the hypothetical victory of the Europa League).
The sale of a top player cannot be ruled out as the Sandro Tonali case showed last year, but then the €80m received from his exit went on three new midfielders to replenish the department.
A new nine
This year the largest investment will be allocated to the purchase of the new centre-forward. Milan need new goals and they come at a high price, for example Joshua Zirkzee has netted 13 and is already worth over €40m.
Imagine if the numbers are those of Viktor Gyokeres: 25 years old, in his first season at Sporting CP, with 36 goals scored in 39 games played considering all competitions, at an average of one every 89 minutes.
He has a €100m clause, that Sporting will point to, but a negotiation would only be possible by meeting halfway at around €50m. Milan intend to step make and attempt, led by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Rafael Leao.
Another option remains Benjamin Sesko, a young talent from RB Leipzig. At 20 years old, he has seven goals so far this season making him less prolific than the others, but with more competition.
Another percentage of revenue will be invested in the midfield (Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad is liked, but watch out for competition from Juventus). The defence will also be addressed too, with Lilian Brassier of Brest and Maxence Lacroix of Wolfsburg are the main candidates.
The chase towards Inter will begin in the summer, with the league at a standstill the market will have to fill the gap.
The post GdS: ‘€130m for the relaunch’ – how Milan will finance a big summer mercato appeared first on SempreMilancom.
