On a day that confirmation arrived of Silvio Berlusconi signing the preliminary agreement which will ensure the long-awaited sale of AC Milan to Chinese owner, reports in Spain suggest that they could already be planning a strategy to acquire Real Madrid outcast Isco.
According to Spanish daily AS, Milan are ready to buy Isco, who seems to be surplus to requirements at the Santiago Bernabeau (via Football-Italia). Given CEO Adriano Galliani’s good relations with the Real management, a deal could be facilitated if both parties are willing to go the distance.
The financial situation of the club
If there is a club in Italy about whom the media is completely left in the dark, it’s AC Milan. The failure to secure players like Zielinski and Mussacchio despite being involved in advanced negotiations with these players suggest a lack of financial muscle. Coupled with a failure to sell Colombian star Carlos Bacca to West Ham, Milan’s transfer market came to a complete standstill.
Milan also entered into advanced negotiations with Pjaca and was one ‘yes’ away from signing him. The deal would have cost them around €25m. However, the Italian media did not account for that discrepancy in their explanation of Milan’s financial situation.
The turnaround
All that presumably changed, however, with the news of takeover as fan enthusiasm spilled over the cold logic of journalism. Overnight Milan started being linked again to all those names who were deemed elusive yesterday. With relatively unknown additions like Gianluca Lapadula, Gustavo Gomez and Lionel Vangioni, Milan would now like to bring one or two star names in the midfield.
Ever since he was bought from Malaga, Isco has failed to establish himself in the starting lineup of Ancelotti, Benitez and Zidane. Last season, Juventus were interested in Isco but Zidane considered him ‘unsellable’ at that point. Since then, however, the situation has understandably changed as Isco spent another season on the bench as Real went to win the Champions League.
Isco would bring much needed injection of quality into the Milan midfield which has been found wanting for quality and creativity, especially in the final third of the pitch at times over the last two seasons. Isco is versatile enough to play as a central midfielder as well as in the advanced trequartista position. One remains skeptical, however, whether Milan have the necessary means to complete this transaction as the Chinese money will not arrive before September. This also means Isco, at the moment, remains more of wishful thinking for Milan fans, than a done deal.
