Earlier on Wednesday we covered claims from Italy that Barcelona’s buyback clause was to blame for holding up Gerard Deulofeu to AC Milan. It made little sense and, as we said, looked like a red herring, the real issue was the terms of a loan from Everton to Milan.
Milan have wanted either a dry loan, with no clause and Deulofeu returning to Everton at the end of it, or a loan with a right of redemption. Sport Witness have stated for some time that Milan having a right of redemption is largely useless to Everton.
It’s a try-before-you-buy situation which could only benefit Milan. If the figure was set at something like €15m to €20m (the figure isn’t too important for this purpose) then if Deulofeu excels, Milan get a bargain. If he does well and wants to stay, Milan could try and talk Everton down, and if he does terribly, Milan can send him back to Everton with his value deteriorated further.
Therefore, comments from Milan sporting director Adriano Gallaino on Wednesday make sense. Calciomercato quote him as saying: “The positions are very simple. We propose a dry loan or a loan with the right, they ask for a loan with an obligation: you all know that because of contractual commitments we cannot make loans with obligations.”
Everton are playing hardball, and it’s exactly what they should be doing, even if it means the deal collapses. The Goodison Park club may cave on their demands if Ronald Koeman can bring some players in and no other club comes in for Deulofeu before the end of the market, but right now they’re right to be tough.
