AC Milan will ask for the signing of Gerard Deulofeu during the January transfer window, according to Sport.
In their Saturday edition, the Catalan newspaper insist that Milan remain interested in the former Everton player, and will look to make a move when the market reopens.
Deulofeu returned to Barcelona during the summer when the club paid a €12m clause to take him back from Everton. There had been Spanish claims that Barcelona would sell Deulofeu straight on, making a profit on what had been sent to Goodison Park.
However, that was always going to be difficult, given the clauses Everton had secured in the deal.
Former Everton manager Roberto Martinez explained in 2015: “There are certain things in the deal. They can’t take him back in the winter so they can’t take him back in January. It can only be at the end of the season. It is €9m for the first year and €12m in the second year.
getting him back or we have got a big percentage of that deal. There is nothing we can do if they activate it. That was the deal and the only way we could access the player in the terms that we wanted. I’m delighted with the deal.”
Therefore, Barcelona would also have an issue selling the player in January, and wouldn’t be able to do so without Everton agreeing to the move, whether Deulofeu was going to AC Milan or anywhere else.
Should a move happen then Everton would be due that ‘big percentage’, which would be a welcome side payment for the Premier League club.
