Milan did not manage to come to terms with Club Brugge during Wednesday’s mission, but they did not strike out on Charles De Ketelaere either. The Rossoneri directors returned to Italy, as the two clubs will keep negotiating remotely.
Paolo Maldini provided an update on the talks to Sky.
“Everything went well. We are always confident. We will try to seal the deal.”
According to the outlet, the first direct meeting between Milan and Club Brugge for De Ketelaere had a positive outcome. The Rossoneri put €32M on the table, including add-ons. While the offer was not accepted, it was not completely rejected either. There is a €4/5M gap between the proposal and the request, Alfred Pedullà reports. The Scudetto winners need to act quickly because other teams are waiting in the wings, though.
On top of the Belgian prodigy, Il Diavolo is in a holding pattern on the Renato Sanches front. Lille president Olivier Letang confirmed the recent rumors in a presser.
“He has two possibilities, as two very big clubs are after him. He is still with us because we have not reached a complete agreement with the suitors. He is about to depart, but I do not know where he is headed yet. It will be either Paris or Milan.”
Our Take on the Milan Negotiations for De Ketelaere and Renato Sanches
The Rossoneri need to thread the needle with their acquisitions, as their budget has quite weirdly been made public. They would have been quick to move on from the starlet and the Portuguese midfielder if they perceived to be involved in a bidding war, and so they must be feeling pretty hopeful. They kind of need the double swoop to respond to the moves of the other title contenders.