GdS: ‘Milan choose their next star’ – Cardinale prepares €70m for the January window

By: Ben Dixon

AC Milan proved that they are willing to spend money on talent in the summer and in January, it’ll seemingly be no different.

There was a shift in the works at Milan in the summer. No longer were the club going to focus solely on buying quantity over quality, hoping for a gem. Instead, they were going to buy quality and so far, it’s largely paying off.

Now, the roadmap is there to do the same again in a few months.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, as seen below, Cardinale is ready to invest around €70 million. After the €150m spent in the summer, it represents a substantial season of investment from the American and it seems this will be the trend moving forward.

There are currently decisions being made about who arrives, but it seems more likely that a new striker will be chosen and there are two standout names for the Rossoneri; both aren’t unfamiliar, too.

On one hand, you have Endrick and the other, you have Nicolo Tresoldi.

Starting with the former, the relationship between Roc Nation and Cardinale is strong, which could help negotiations. Of course, the American was also very keen to sign him in the summer mercato, so this interest stretches back.

They will have to compete with Roma, but to help give them the upper hand, they have involved Kaka in the process. The Brazilian – also an evangelical Christian – could do with Endrick ‘what Leonardo did with him’.

Cardinale plans to offer a loan with a buy clause to help sweeten the deal, and this could be worth €60m, plus bonuses. Importantly, he’d also be willing to offer Real Madrid a buy-back clause, similar to the Nico Paz situation.

With Tresoldi, things aren’t as simple. Their admiration is well known – as is the striker’s for the Diavolo – but they are not alone in their interest. His future lies away from Belgium, but the path is difficult to know.

Ideally, they wouldn’t sell him in January, but if a compelling offer arrives, he could well leave the club in the New Year. It may also be problematic if Premier League clubs become involved; they are desperate to avoid an auction.