Market value winner in the medical check
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Andrej Kostic will join AC Milan in the summer. The 19-year-old center forward traveled to Italy at the weekend to complete his medical with the Rossoneri. However, the Italians’ agreement with Partizan Belgrade on a transfer fee of 3.5 million euros excluding possible bonuses of 4.5 million euros and a share in the sale, according to transfer reporter Matteo Moretto, is causing trouble in the Serbian management team. The vice president responsible for sports, Predrag Mijatović, sharply criticized the decision to accept the offer from Italy in a public statement. The club wants to comment in detail on the allegations later in the week.
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The former top striker, including from Real Madrid, has been responsible for sporting matters at his youth club since December 2024. He spoke about the Kostic transfer in a press release posted at “Sportske.net” was printed, not with his anger behind the tree: “Given the information about the transfer of Andrej Kostic to Milan, I feel obliged to address primarily the Partizan fans, but also the wider sports public, and make it clear that I completely distance myself from such a decision,” he wrote. He was not consulted by the board in the decision to accept the offer.
Kostic sale: Mijatović sharply criticizes Partizan bosses
Mijatović continued: “I emphasize that even if I had been involved in the decision-making process, I would have made it clear and unambiguous to all members of the board that I am absolutely against accepting such a low offer. Such behavior constitutes a gross violation of the club’s statutes, since, due to my position and my clearly defined responsibilities, I am responsible for the entire sporting area of the club, including transfer policy and player development.”
It is said that the sports director was considering at least a double-digit million transfer fee for Kostic. At “Sportske” you can even read about up to 20 million euros. The Montenegrin international only moved to Belgrade in the summer of 2025 for 900,000 euros from Buducnost Podgorica, where he impressed in the UEFA Youth League. His contract there is valid until 2030 and he contributed eleven goals and one assist in 34 games. He scored every 112 minutes. In the Serbian Super League update, Kostic recently increased his market value for the third time since his move, this time to 5 million euros.
Mijatović emphasized that since his return to Partizan, he has always been involved in activating financial resources in order to comply with the leeway set by UEFA as part of Financial Fair Play – and without “selling the most promising players in the current squad for a ridiculous price”. At the beginning of 2017, the club was excluded from the European Cup for three years because the regulations were violated too often. Since debts were subsequently paid off, the ban was lifted, but Partizan is currently still under observation. However, Mijatović believes that “this transfer has set a dangerous precedent that will have an extremely negative impact on the perception of the value of our young players in the football market.” In addition, he questioned the sense of patching up budget holes by selling players and wondered how this would affect the expected transfers of talents such as Ognjen Ugresic (19), Nikola Simic (19) or Vanja Dragojevic (20). Together with Kostic, they are the most valuable players at Partizan.
And further: “Why was such a harmful and short-sighted solution resorted to in this case? Was it the inability of the rest of the board to find appropriate solutions – as has been the case so far – that led to such a desperate step, or is it simply an attempt to save their own positions and offices? Could it perhaps be something completely different? In any case, immeasurable and irreparable damage has been caused to the club, both financially and in terms of its reputation.” Mijatović demanded full transparency from his colleagues about how the transfer decision came about and an extraordinary general meeting of the club.
This is how Partizan’s board reacts to Mijatović
Partizan itself stated that the board would issue a “comprehensive and detailed statement on all the allegations made therein” on Wednesday. The role of the sports director in the club should also become an issue. “At the same time, we find it difficult to understand at this point in time that issues related to individual roles are being discussed publicly again, as the club’s priorities lie in fulfilling all of its obligations and successfully completing UEFA monitoring.” The deadline for UEFA’s monitoring phase ends on Tuesday, which is why the focus will initially be on “fulfilling all necessary obligations”.
