Luca Bianchin, a journalist who works for La Gazzetta dello Sport spoke exclusively to the microphones of Milan News.
Here are some of his statements:
"The only concrete name for Milan in the mercato currently is Sportiello. Milan would make the investment in January if it's affordable, for example in the range of one million euros; if it were a matter of paying around 5 million euros, Milan would not consider it a correct investment. It is then up to Atalanta to direct the negotiation and Musso's injury does not provide the 'yes'. Cragno? I tried to understand his situation and the responses received are different from those on Sportiello; then it's a situation to keep an eye on, because Cragno did very well before Monza."
Is Ismael Bennacer close to renew with Milan?
"Yes, everyone is convinced it's only a matter of time. It would be an important renewal. There is a tendency for Milan to rise with the level of salaries; a great deal of work has been done on contracts in recent years, given that Milan is arrived to have a Scudetto squad with a total of salaries similar to teams in Europa League, with a few exceptions. Now, the level is on a higher level, but still reasonable, correct and understandable as in the case of Bennacer."
What about Rafael Leao's renewal issue?
"Leao is seriously thinking about it, more than in the past. After long dialogues, we have come to determine what Milan can offer and what he can have. There are complications (two agents, percentage of sale to Lille, compensation to Sporting, the release clause) which do not allow us to say that, since Leao is oriented towards renewing with Milan, a signing will be reached soon... Certainly January is important."
On Mike Maignan's possible return date:
"There are some matches between the Supercoppa Italiana and the first leg against Tottenham that could be those of a possible return; I think the chances of seeing him against Inter in the Supercoppa are less than 50%. We must, however, trust the expectation: the hope of Milan fans must be there because with Maignan, so much changes, not only as a goalkeeper, but also because the feeling is that Kalulu and Tomori, for example, play better with the Frenchman; those are non-material things that affect football."
