Milan: Zaniolo or De Ketelaere for the Champions League

Milan changes, but the market strategy remains the same: from Elliott to RedBird in the name of continuity, even at the negotiating tables. The club will sit down to reinforce the team with young prospects, investments yes but targeted. With Zaniolo and De Ketelaere, the line that in the past had led to the Rossoneri Leao and Tonali, but also Kalulu and Saelemaekers will be followed. With an extra distinctive trait: none of the last four had a consolidated European experience. What they did in national tournaments was enough to believe that they could contribute to Milan’s climb to the top of Serie A. Both Zaniolo and De Ketelaere have attended Europe and the Champions League: they will be able to increase their international knowledge and together with the other young Rossoneri bring back the team to compete with the greats of the continent. The strategy worked in Italy, the goal is to repeat itself even beyond national borders.

Business

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RedBird’s AC Milan prepares its first millionaire shots: in the Zaniolo affair all possible caution and diplomacy are needed. The renewal of the contract expiring in 2024 has been topical in Rome for weeks now: the Rossoneri are ready to join in case of no agreement. At a later stage, the distance in the evaluation of the player that the two sides make should be reduced. The Giallorossi does not drop from 65 million, preferably cash. That Rossoneri does not go beyond forty, to be discounted at 25 with the inclusion of a technical counterpart. The attempt to include Saelemaekers did not convince Roma, an alternative solution involves the involvement of Rebic. The road leading to De Ketelaere seems less tortuous: the ambition to want to compete in the noblest European football is legitimate, and Bruges knows it. As is known, the interest of Milan, already out of the closet. Forty million are needed to beat foreign competition, and the only way to get the discount is to include another name in the deal: not a Milan player to be sent to Belgium, but another Bruges talent, Noa Lang, to be brought to the Rossoneri. . Not a buy-two-pay-one formula, which is unthinkable, but a package that could allow the two clubs to come together. Salaries are also in line with the Rossoneri parameters: two million and two (including prizes) for Zaniolo, just over one million for De Ketelaere.

jolly

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Both meet Milan’s needs: quality and youth, talent and perspective. In the Rossoneri they could further increase their value. They also have another feature that responds to the identikit of the perfect reinforcement: they are modern players, skilled in multiple areas of the pitch. They are capable of adapting to multiple roles, they add goals to the attack, creativity to the frontline, insertions if backward in the median. A couple of years separate them: Zaniolo born in July 1999, De Ketelaere in March 2001. The physique is similar: both reach one meter and ninety. Nicolò became a protagonist in Rome, after a trip between the Fiorentina and Inter youth teams and the stage in Serie B with Entella: the debut in Serie A, the first goals in the Champions League, the Conference League (first title) added to the bulletin board. In the Giallorossi he also experienced the tiring rehabilitation after the double rupture of the cruciate ligament. De Ketelaere grew up among the Bruges boys, and then immediately great with the greats: at twenty-one he has already added 120 appearances in the first team, with 25 goals scored and twenty assists. They also have a future with their respective national teams: nine appearances for Italy and two goals for Nicolò, after having also dressed the blue of the youth teams. Six games and a goal with Belgium for Charles, who also went through all the selections of the boys. In Milan they would both start from the right, in the area that Saelemaekers and Messias have recently divided, and then look for spaces elsewhere. More in the center, as a playmaker, or in the box, as a first or second striker. In midfield as thrusting midfielders: all roles that they have already learned to play in their career. In the casting, Milan, looking for new protagonists to entrust the part to, are the favorites.