The new Milan coach, Paulo Fonseca, was tired of waiting, so he publicly put pressure on the club to get serious and bring him much-needed reinforcements. When asked by a journalist if AC Milan has any wishes for the midfield, Fonseca answered a few days ago: “We want Fofana. Let’s beat around the bush, you all know…”A few days later, after several months of negotiations, AC Milan finally managed to break Monaco’s resistance and agree on the transfer of the French international.The Rossoneri tried for weeks to lower the price and succeeded. They started with 14,000,000 euros and bonuses, while Monaco asked for the entire 30,000,000. And so, little by little, the two clubs found themselves in the middle. The Rossoneri will eventually pay 23,000,000 euros fixed plus 2,000.00 through bonuses for the French midfielder. Monaco did not have a better option considering that the player refused all negotiations with other interested clubs, including Manchester United, Atlético Madrid and West Ham.##NAJAVA_MECA_8269481##The player agreed on his terms a long time ago and will sign a five-year contract worth 3,000,000 euros net per season. It is expected that he will arrive in Milan tonight or tomorrow at the latest, undergo medical examinations and during the weekend be officially confirmed as the new reinforcement of the seven-time European champion.Fofana is AC Milan’s fourth major signing this summer and should have a place in the starting lineup. Before him, Alvaro Morata replaced Olivier Giroud in the striker position, Strahinja Pavlovic strengthened the defensive line, while Emerson Royal should be the solution in the position of right back, where the unconvincing Davide Calabria played for years, and recently his alternative Alessandro Florenzi was injured.Fofana is 25 years old and came to Monaco four and a half years ago from Strasbourg for 15,000,000 euros. He became one of the best defensive midfielders in Ligue 1 and a member of the French national team. This summer, he entered the last year of his contract, turned down all offers for continued cooperation and Monaco eventually had to let him go.🔴⚫️ Youssouf #Fofana will land tomorrow in #Milan at 6pm. Scheduled medicals for Saturday Morning. Then he will sign the contract with #ACMilan until 2028 (€3M/year). He will wear the no. 29 shirt.📰 @NicoSchira pic.twitter.com/j2Iek6GAqo— Milan Posts (@MilanPosts) August 15, 2024 The Frenchman is the classic “no.6” Milan have been missing since Franck Kessie left the club. In the previous season, that position was mostly covered by Tijjani Reijnders, Ismaël Bennacer, Yacine Adli, Tommaso Pobega… But none of them are that type of player and there was a lack of solidity in the midfield.The arrival of Fofana is not the end of the summer shopping at San Siro, as one, maybe two more reinforcements are expected. The main target is Lazar Samardžić from Udinese, and maybe another striker like Tammy Abraham from Roma will come.
