After Olivier Giroud and Fodé Ballo-Touré, Milan have completed the trifecta of rumored acquisitions. On Monday, they officially announced the return of Brahim Diaz from Real Madrid. The Spanish attacker returns to Serie A with a different formula compared to last year.
The Rossoneri and the Merengues have agreed on a €3M two-year loan, Calciomercato.com reports. Milan will have a €22M option to buy in 2023, but the Galacticos could counter and bring him back for €5M more. Diaz tallied 7 goals and 4 assists in 39 appearances in 2020/2021.
The 21-year-old playmaker flew back to Italy Saturday to take the medicals and put pen-to-paper. The management has been trying to reunite with him since the end of the previous campaign. “I am super happy to be here, let’s go Milan!”, he told reporters at the airport.
The front officially sealed the deal by offering the Spaniard #10 jersey, which was open after the departure of Hakan Calhanoglu. He is the first Spanish player to don such number in the history of Milan. The Rossoneri have been the most active Serie A team thus far. On top of the three recent purchases, they have bought out Fikayo Tomori from Chelsea and Sandro Tonali from Brescia. They secured the signing of Mike Maignan from Lille very early.
Diaz will have a bigger role with the Turk no longer in town, but Milan are looking for another option. Nikola Vlasic is currently the frontrunner, although CSKA Moscow are playing hardball. Instead, they will have to be patient for Marcel Sabitzer and Hakim Ziyech.