For those who focus on competitiveness, it’s a two against one. For those who, more pragmatically, focus on substance, it’s a two for the price of one. Because this is what the calculator says: Romelu Lukaku and Tammy Abraham, together, make a Joshua Zirkzee, and Milan is also thinking about this. The Belgian and the Englishman are currently traveling on parallel paths, but that doesn’t mean that the two paths won’t end up crossing and flowing in the same direction. The one that leads to the center of the Rossoneri attack.
costs
—
To understand the puzzle game you need to start from the starting point, that is, from Zirkzee. At least since last spring the Dutchman has been the great candidate to take over Giroud’s legacy and Milan would be willing to pay the 40 million clause for him which would free him from Bologna. The point is that the operation ran aground on “ancillary” costs, i.e. those 15 million commissions requested by Joshua’s agent, which raise the cost of Zirkzee to a total of 55 million. Lukaku, who returned to Chelsea after the season on loan to Roma, also has a similar exit clause (43 million), but Milan evaluates other formulas for Big Rom: deal with the Blues on the basis of 25-30 million or wait for the last part of the market to try to beat the loan route. In the meantime, Portello managers are also studying other profiles. And this is where Abraham comes into play, a center forward that Paulo Fonseca would see well in his Milan. The Englishman, who had made room for Lukaku at Chelsea by moving to Roma in the summer of 2021 and who was the Belgian’s deputy in the Giallorossi last season, has a contract until 2026 and can leave the capital. Roma, who had paid him 40 million, values his price tag at around 30 million, but the residual budget cost is around 16 million: it is therefore realistic to hypothesize that for a sum between 20 and 25 million Abraham could change shirt. And so, if Milan decided to organize the double move from Rome to Milan for Tammy and Romelu, the overall expense would not be far from the 55 million needed to secure Zirkzee.
engagements
—
What would break the balance in the event of a double 9, if anything, would be the salaries. Investing in Zirkzee, with whom there is an agreement for a salary of four million and up, would allow Milan to contain costs and continue to build within the perimeter of the politics dear to the club. Going for Lukaku or Abraham (or both) would increase the cost: the former Inter center forward earns 7.5 million per season plus bonuses, while for the Englishman we are on 5 million plus one bonus. In both cases he would reach the top of the “ranking” of the highest paid in the Rossoneri squad, currently led by Leao with 6.5 million.
philosophy
—
In addition to the figures, logically, there are the technical evaluations. And on this ground we return to two against one: Milan, which has returned to greatness with two strikers in their thirties – first Ibra, then Giroud – finds itself at a crossroads. Is it better to focus on a young man like Zirkzee (23 years old) or on two experienced 9s like the thirty-one-year-old Lukaku and the almost twenty-seven-year-old Abraham (returning from a long-term knee injury)? Ibra himself recently dictated the line: «Next year’s team will be even younger and Fonseca is the right coach to work with young people». For the Devil’s next goal man, however, an exception is evidently allowed. Ibra, Fonseca and all of Milan think so.
