AC Milan have reopened negotiations with Torino over the possibility of a late move for Alessandro Buongiorno, according to our information.
Milan have not resolved the issue regarding the signing of a new centre-back as Stefano Pioli desired. There are many names on Geoffrey Moncada and Antonio D’Ottavio’s list, among which Buongiorno from Torino stands out at the top.
After an initial phase of contacts, the negotiations started in recent days with the Rossoneri discussing a deal that involved a cash sum plus Lorenzo Colombo moving to Torino as a counterpart.
Then, Torino president Urbano Cairo seemed to suggest that there was no chance of Buongiorno departing before the window closes, though he did confirm Milan’s interest.
Sliding doors moment
Where are things now? As our colleagues at SempreMilan.it report, the turning point came on January 26th, when Buongiorno was forced to leave the field following a tackle due to a dislocated shoulder.
It was an injury that was immediately evaluated by the Torino medical staff who, in agreement with other specialists, opted for conservative therapy rather than surgery.
Buongiorno will therefore proceed with a slow rehabilitation work that could keep him away from the pitch for even more than a month.
In the meantime Torino have lost Djidji for the rest of the season, so they began looking for a replacement. The search ended yesterday after an agreement reached with Salernitana for the arrival of Matteo Lovato.
A series of incidents that have little to do with Milan, you say? At first glance, yes, but we understand that in light of the injury and the consequent arrival of a replacement, Torino have now reopened the doors to Buongiorno joining Milan.
Cairo’s decision also arises from the now awareness that these will be the last six months of Buongiorno in the Granata shirt, because he is destined to leave Turin in the summer.
The new price
The injury and the consequent therapy could in fact risk affecting the value of the price currently considered by the Torino management (€35-40m) who will hardly be able to hope for more in six months.
Precisely for this reason since yesterday evening Cairo seems to have re-established the first timid contacts with Milan, who seem to have responded.
The parties will therefore resume the discussions started a few weeks ago, evaluating a loan transfer for a season and a half with obligation to buy in favour of the Rossoneri.
The cards of Lorenzo Colombo and Tommaso Pobega could also be included in the operation, but as counterparts that would move in the summer rather than now.
For its part, Milan have said they were willing to negotiate from the €35-40m price demanded by Torino, and to take on the defender’s recovery therapies meaning he would only be available to Pioli starting from March.
Everything is still in progress, but as often happens the last hours of the market could lead to outcomes that were unpredictable until a few days ago.
