Make PSG pay through the nose for Donnarumma if the transfer is all about money for Milan

AC Milan should not be in this situation.

The whole point of getting the new owners, Elliott Management, was that the club wouldn’t have to sell top players for pennies on the dollar because of shoddy transfer business done before they bought the club. After all, the current FFP disputes are coming from seasons in the past, and part of the agreement was that Milan was able to show that they were going to be able to break-even in the long-run, not triggering a fire-sale to balance the books right away.

But no.

It’s being reported that Milan have finally decided to cash in on their star goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, in a big-money move to PSG. While the Italy number one keeper is said to not want a move, unlike in past years when it was rumored that he wasn’t content and wanted out, he’s happy at Milan right now.

However, in part because of UEFA’s looming FFP penalties, it means that Milan can’t keep buying new players without some sales and the only asset that Milan can sell that can guarantee the kind of return necessary to make the regulators happy is Donnarumma, the 20 year-old keeper who has been a starter for the past four years.

Suso isn’t getting the kind of attention he has in past years, and while Franck Kessie has been mentioned as a possible departure, nothing more than whispers have been said about Milan selling anyone besides Lucas Biglia, whose value is much farther below the €20 million that Milan paid for him back in the summer of 2017.

The performance of Alessandro Plizzari for Italy in the U20 World Cup made a lot of Milan fans sit up and take notice, but he’s far to young and doesn’t have the experience to take over for Donnarumma, at least not yet. Pepe Reina is still at the club, and while he’s not getting any younger, he would be a decent fill-in.

However, make no mistake, even if Milan are forced into this sale because of budget concerns, the club needs to hold out for as much as they possibly can get from the French giants. Leonardo is said to be the one wanting to bring Donnarumma to Paris, so Maldini and Massara need to at least get the reported price tag of €50 million for Donnarumma. If they could get more, that would be even better. No player exchange, no loan deals with obligations to buy for Milan, straight cash.

If this deal is all about balancing the books and/or giving the team funds to improve elsewhere, then make sure the cash is worth the sale. And for the love of god, please don’t do what other clubs have done after selling their prized assets (Hi AS Roma!) and buy a bunch of mediocre replacements or simply pocket the money. This transfer will hurt, at least make smart decisions with the money instead of plunking down money on players that aren’t good enough, as that’s what got Milan into trouble in the first place.