Milan Transfer News And Rumours Tracker: Week of August 18

 

Almost every week there is a summit in Arcore, northwest of Milan, between coach Pippo Inzaghi, vice-president Adriano Galliani and owner Silvio Berlusconi. Almost every week there is not much concrete news coming out of there.  

    

Inzaghi has longed for a new winger, per Gianluca Di Marzio. They have gone through many names: Alessio Cerci, Ezequiel Lavezzi and lately Douglas Costa, the 23-year-old Brazilian who wants away from Ukraine, per La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia).

AC Milan have two weeks left to make a late purchase. This is how they acquired Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2010. Both came within days of each other, just as the transfer window was closing.

Inzaghi already received a kind of gift on his 41st birthday: Diego Lopez. Lopez did not enjoy his debut so much, fumbling the ball and conceding twice against Valencia at the weekend.

Another could be on the way. And two current players could leave. Let’s take a look at this week’s rumours.

 

Douglas Costa is "stronger" than James Rodriguez. At least that’s what Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu says.

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia), Lucescu was not totally against Costa moving to Milan. But he wants the deal done “the right way.”

He would like Costa to stay in Ukraine, to play with them in the Champions League. After all, Milan cannot offer that.

Galliani knows his agent well. Kia Joorabchian also has Carlos Tevez as a client, and Galliani met with him in 2013 to broker a transfer. It collapsed.

However, there is also the question of money. Costa’s buyout clause is reportedly set at €50 million—according to transfermarketweb.com—but Milan could possibly get him for €25 million, with possible counterparts included.