Naples dream, Milan alarm. What looked like a normal Tuesday at the end of the championship has instead turned into a real transfer market cyclone, in which literally everything happened.
The main news concerns Milan, rejected by UEFA and forced to deal with the biggest bugbear: the exclusion from the cups. This is the worst sanction that could hit the Rossoneri, whose request for a settlement agreement (a sort of agreed plea bargain) has been rejected, with consequent indictment.
An unprecedented in the European football world, at least at these levels: the other big players involved in the past (Manchester City, PSG, Inter and Rome) had always managed to reach a meeting point, thus avoiding ending up in front of the judging chamber. Here, however, as UEFA explained in an official statement, "there still remain uncertainties about the refinancing of the loan and the repayment of the bonds to be made by October 2018", which is why it was impossible to come to terms and thus grant the settlement agreement.
In a nutshell Nyon does not believe that Yonghong Li can repay the 383 million loaned from Elliot by the aforementioned date and it does not matter that the same fund has guaranteed for the club: the highest European football body, in fact, demands clarity on the properties and their way of acting.
“This decision has generated surprise and bitterness – commented Fassone – We expected the settlement just like all the other companies, instead we have suffered important damage to our image which we will evaluate carefully. We are managing things in an absolutely sane way, we trust that UEFA will judge us in a serene way”.
Now the ball passes to the lawyers, but above all to Yonghong Li and the fund Elliot: will they be able to convince the judges not to sanction Milan excessively? Because now it's a question of understanding what punishment the club will take and the scenarios range from the least worst (warning and fine) to the most catastrophic (exclusion from the Europa League and market block). Impossible to make predictions, especially since there are no precedents, which is why it almost makes you smile (in order not to cry of course) that Mirabelli met Beppe Bozzo, Morata and Zaza's attorney yesterday morning.
But if it was a bad Tuesday for Milan, things went decidedly differently for Napoli. De Laurentiis, having taken note of Sarri's desire to leave the club (it's official by the hour) launched the offensive against none other than Carlo Ancelotti. A simple contact? No way. The blue president summoned the former Bayern coach (with whom he is still under contract) to the Rome offices of Filmauro and offered him a two-year contract worth 6,5 million per season with an option for a third year. And the signing is now official: the announcement will take place on Friday 1 June.
The mega offer therefore convinced Ancelotti. And never mind if Hamsik wants to go to China (the offer is 10 million per season, now it depends on the clubs), if Jorginho dreams of Manchester City, if Koulibaly receives almost daily offers: Adl has responded by courting Mister Champions, certainly not just any guy.
