Moretto: Why Amorim halted Milan’s pursuit of Lecce star with renewal now announced

Lecce have secured Tiago Gabriel’s contract renewal, amid reports that have been linking him with a move to AC Milan.

As was announced on Thursday by Lecce’s official website, an agreement has been reached with Tiago Gabriel and his agent Jorge Mendes over a new contract, including a pay raise and a new expiry date of June 2030.

The Portuguese defender has thus been secured, and now any club wanting to negotiate to sign him will be aware that the Apulian club have plenty of leverage.

Milan’s pursuit of Tiago Gabriel: The background

Numerous clubs sought him last summer. As Matteo Moretto explains in a video on Fabrizio Romano’s YouTube channel (via Calciomercato.com), Milan begun negotiations to bring Tiago Gabriel to the Rossoneri late in August.

Why didn’t the deal come to fruition? The management deemed the costs of the operation too high to proceed, especially because coach Ruben Amorim was not fully convinced by the idea of signing him for his centre-back department.

After some internal evaluations shared between Amorim and the owner Gerry Cardinale, it was decided not to proceed with the purchase of the young talent. There have been suggestions things could be different in the winter, but also that Goncalo Inacio of Sporting CP remains the priority.