Leonardo attempts to put Milan fans at ease over apparent trouble brewing with Suso and Roma

Leonardo has attempted to put AC Milan fans at ease after some shenanigans involving Suso and AS Roma over the past day or so.

It was widely reported that Suso’s agent visited with the brass at Roma yesterday, with speculation that the meeting was in regards to Suso’s status with Milan. And today, both Suso and his agent met with Leonardo and Paolo Maldini at Casa Milan, with the agents sticking around for about another 40 minutes after Suso left the meeting.

At a press conference today, Leonardo had this to say about the status of Suso and if there were any plans to sell him to Roma:

We’ve never thought about his departure.

There’s been nothing to make us think otherwise. He’s very important for us, these meetings take place to get to know the new owners. There’s no reason to think he can’t stay here.

We didn’t talk about offers, we talked only about what exists. We need to meet individually with all the players, these meetings are normal things for a new ownership.

Hopefully all of this is just a negotiating tactic from Suso’s camp to try and get the Spaniard an improved contract. It’s never a good sign for an agent to meet with an opposing team before meeting with his current team and the player the next day, but given the high-profile nature of these visits, which I’m fairly sure were leaked and talked about to the press by the agent himself, this speaks more to an attempt to get a higher wage than it actually is to try and force a transfer through.

At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

Milan don’t have Champions League football to attract players right now, but they do have history, tradition, Leonardo, and Maldini on their side. Hopefully having Milan legends express what the club means to them will helping not only with recruitment, but also with retention.