AC Milan are not giving up on Gonçalo Inacio: between the release clause, transfer fee and the player’s openness

Sporting Lisbon centre-back remains one of Amorim's first choices: the conditions for bringing him to Italy.

A centre-back and an attacking midfielder. After wrapping up the arrival of Diego Moreira from Strasbourg, with the player undergoing his medical yesterday and due to be officially announced today, AC Milan want to hand Amorim two more reinforcements to help the team make the definitive leap in quality. The priorities have long been clear: an attacking midfielder who can play alongside Pulisic behind Gonçalo Ramos, and a centre-back who can lead the department with Pavlovic and Gila. Among the profiles AC Milan are considering are Lecce's Tiago Gabriel and, above all, Sporting Lisbon's Goncalo Inacio, whom Amorim knows very well. The 2001-born player's name already came up in the June talks between the Portuguese coach, Cardinale and the transfer team, and in these final two weeks of the transfer window he could come back into contention.

Very high release clause

Landing the centre-back who came through the Lions' academy won't be easy, but the deal is not impossible. Gonçalo Inacio is a pillar of Rui Borges' Sporting Lisbon and from this year, helped by Hjulmand's departure for Atletico Madrid, he has become their captain, but the club from the Portuguese capital do not see him as untouchable. Everyone has a price, Inacio included, who still has a release clause of €60 million. When he renewed his contract until 2030 last December, he in fact said no to the club's proposal to raise it to 80. With 1 September approaching and Sporting obliged to find a replacement, it is hard to see him leaving for a cut price.

Inacio opens up, it depends on Sporting

It would take a huge bid to prise him away from Sporting, more than €40 million. Inacio knows Milan are interested but he is not in a position to force a move. Sporting are the team of his life; he would never wrong them. If negotiations did start, though, he would be open to a change of scene and a move to Italy, even without Champions League football. According to CNN Portugal, he had opened the door to a departure after the World Cup, but Sporting have since sold Diomandé to Nottingham Forest and cannot afford to lose another pillar. Much will depend on what Cardinale decides to do, having already worked with Jorge Mendes, Inacio's agent, on the Ramos and Moreira deals in this transfer window.