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Maldini has to Sell before Buying

Donnarumma, Suso and Çalhanoğlu could leave to make cash

FC Torino v AC Milan - Serie A Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

The financial situation of Milan is not rosy at the moment. It appears that AC Milan will have to make a deal with the devil and enter into an agreement with UEFA to avoid further sanctions by not participating in the next Europe League. If the team wants to respect the financial fair play rules and make cash to buy some new prospective players, they’ll need to sell some pieces of the roster.

The three most likely names are Gigio Donnarumma, Suso and Hakan Çalhanoğlu. The goalkeeper is definitely the most valuable piece given his young age and his fame that has been built in his short career. Donnarumma has a value of about 50 million euros, but above all a very onerous wage of 6 million a year, too expensive for the Rossoneri. He also comes from two very troubled seasons. He made many mistakes, most likely caused by too much pressure because of the huge increase in salary obtained thanks to Mino Raiola. The drama of two years ago that made all Milan’s fans angry at the keeper and his agent. Better to sell now before it risks a further devaluation by focusing on Plizzari for the future. Donnarumma was reportedly contacted by the PSG after his compatriot Gianluigi Buffon decided not to renew his contract for next season.

A different story for Suso, who also this year has proved to be an extremely inconsistent player, able to play games of the highest level, only to go through stretches of terrible form, disappearing like a ghost on the field. The Spanish winger could reportedly yield about €40 million, and his sacrifice would certainly be repaid by some new entries, especially youngsters such as Allan Saint-Maximin, Patrick Schick, or Dani Ceballos that Milan can start to rebuild the team around.

As for Çalhanoğlu, he was undoubtedly the worst purchase of the last two years. A lot was expected of him because of his remarkable technical qualities, but he lacks a lot of character and his young age did not help him. Then it will depend on Giampaolo if he intends to try to relaunch him or if he will let Çalhanoğlu leave to see someone else arrive. If Juventus, after buying Rabiot, should decide to sell Sami Khedira, Milan should move for him. He would be the right man at the right price.