AC Milan accept PSG's €60 million bid for Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Rossoneri CEO Adriano Galliani has long wanted to cash in on the
pair in order to ease the club's financial conerns and he now looks to
have been granted his wish
Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani has
been planning to offload the pair for months in order to wipe out a
significant chunk of the club's mounting debts, as well as remove two
hefty salaries from the wage bill, with Ibrahimovic earning a reported
€12m (£9.5m) a year, while Thiago Silva is paid a yearly sum of €6m
(£4.7m) plus bonuses at San Siro.
Galliani's plan was initially
undermined by the Berlusconi family, with club owner Silvio
Berlusconi blocking the proposed sale of Thiago Silva to PSG for €46m
(£36m) at the last minute before subsequently handing the Brazilian a lucrative new contract.
However,
Galliani has been given the green light to cash in on Milan's two most
valuable assets, meaning it will now be up to the players involved to
decide if they want to move to the French capital.
Thiago Silva claimed over the weekend that he was "glad" that his proposed switch to the Parc des Princes collapsed, revealing that he never wanted to leave San Siro,
but that the deal has now been resurrected should not be an issue for
the Brazil international. Indeed, the centre-half is said to be happy
with the financial package PSG have put together for him.
Ibrahimovic, meanwhile, has expressed an interest in relocating to Paris
and the Swede's representative, Mino Raiola, is also reportedly keen to
secure the 30-year-old striker one last big pay day. Consequently, they
are asking PSG's Qatari owners for an annual wage packet of €14m (£11m)
per season, which represents an increase of €2m (£1.6m) a year on his
current salary at Milan and would make him the second highest paid
player in the world behind Anzhi Makhachkala forward Samuel Eto'o, who
currently earns €20m a year in Russia.
As for Milan, they accept
that filling the void left by Thiago Silva could be close to impossible,
but they are confident of finding an adequate replacement for
Ibrahimovic. Indeed, not only are the Rossoneri considering
reigniting their interest in Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez, they
are also, as Goal.com revealed earlier this week, courting the Argentine's club-mate Edin Dzeko.
Liverpool forward Andy Carroll and Siena striker Mattia Destro are also under consideration,
with the latter representing a particularly attractive proposition for
Galliani, whose goal is to build a new Milan, younger and cheaper, but
no less successful.
Source : Goal.com
