CM: Monza CEO confirms interest in nine-goal star Varela – Milan among the suitors

By: Oliver Fisher

Gustavo Varela is attracting a lot of interest after his start to the season with Monza, and AC Milan have been named as a suitor.

As Calciomercato.com report, Varela is one of the revelations of the season so far, given that he is top scorer in Serie A with nine goals in 10 appearances. Many teams are closely following the former Benfica player’s development, but Monza will not let him go without a fight.

Mauro Baldissoni – the CEO of Monza – made this clear when he spoke to Sky from the Social Football Summit in Turin, explaining the position of the club.

“It’s too easy to talk about just one player and too easy to take credit. We did well, but above all, he did well: he was called upon to make a leap, to make an effort, and he did it very well,” he said.

“Now he’s calm and serene, but he knows he hasn’t achieved anything yet. The foundations are there for a great career. The goal is to have him with us until the end of the season. We know he’s being followed by clubs with great ambitions, but we want to keep him as long as possible.

“It’s still mid-November and no real discussions have been had with anyone. We know that the boy has received some interest through his agent and we’ve received some as well. But it’s all very premature.”

Interest has been confirmed, but from whom? Over the past few weeks, the Portuguese has been closely monitored by scouts from various clubs and strongly linked with several Italian big clubs.

Juventus are looking for another centre-forward to give to Spalletti. Milan want a quality alternative to Gonçalo Ramos and are in the hunt, even if Nicolo Tresoldi has been linked. Inter president Beppe Marotta denied the possibility of adding a fifth striker to the squad, but they are always lurking.

Napoli are closely monitoring the situation too. Massimiliano Allegri has outlined his needs for a striker in the summer to replace Lorenzo Lucca (who is set to leave again), so they are among the frontrunners.

Last summer, Monza paid just €2m to acquire him from Benfica and sign him to a contract until 2030. In just two months, his price has skyrocketed and the asking price is now around €25-30m. Selling in January remains unlikely, unless a big offer is forthcoming.

However, there is the Benfica factor. The Portuguese giants have two clauses in their favour: they will get a 20% share of the capital gain on the player’s future resale, and they have the ability to match any offers that may come from other teams.