It's no secret that Serie A giants AC Milan are interested in Zirkze, while Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have a lot of ideas about Milan's second-hand players Te'o and Maignan.
The 22-year-old Dutch striker Zirkze's performances this season cannot be described in simple words, and he can even drive Gullit, one of the Dutch trio, crazy. In an interview with Manuel Pellegatti, the Milan legend said of his compatriot.
I saw him at Under-19 and my son was there playing with him. What drives me crazy is that he always performs well on the pitch.In the right position, he didn't do much to get to the right position, but he was always there and that's a special thing for a striker.
He knows how to get things done, and I'm happy for him. I hope he can go to a stronger team after Bologna, now he is playing well and is growing.
Gullit's love for Zirkze can be said to be overflowing. However, Zirkze seems to prefer another Milan legend, Van Basten, who is also one of the Dutch trio. But it doesn't matter, and it can be seen from the player's previous interviews that he still has a good impression of Milan. In addition to complimenting Milan players and celebrities, he also said that the San Siro is the most beautiful.
This season, the player's value is like riding a rocket into the sky. At the end of last season, it was worth 9 million euros, and by the end of '23 it had soared to 30 million euros. Heading into 2024, Zirkze continued his excellent form, scoring three goals and providing one assist in eight appearances. The average game is 0The five-goal performance was on par with the 11 goals scored in 20 games in the first half of the season.
It is conservatively estimated that Zirkze will be worth more than 35 million euros at the end of the season. That is, in one season, his value has nearly quadrupled.
The excellent performance also gave Bologna a lot of anticipation, as they haven't made such a big profit in a long time. In the last five years, Bologna has not transferred more than 20 million euros of players. It is reported that they want to receive a transfer fee of €70 million from Zirkze, which is significantly more than the Rossoneri's budget of €40 million.
I thought that the story of Zirkze and Milan would come to an end, but the appearance of Bayern Munich could turn things around.
In the summer of 2022, Bayern added a buyback clause when they gave Zirkze ** to Bologna for 8.5 million, and it is reported that the amount of the buyback is 40 million euros, which is exactly Milan's budget.
Although the buyback clause is only valid for Bayern, they can buy it back and then add money in exchange for either Maignan and Te'o.
Both Milan players have two years left on their contracts, and talks are on the agenda.
Te'o's contract renewal is relatively simple, the player has a strong sense of belonging, and the salary only needs to be close to Leao. The current player's salary is 4 million + 500,000 bonuses, and Milan's first ** may exceed 5 million.
Maignan is a bit more troublesome about renewing his contract, which is why Milan didn't wait until the end of the season to start negotiations. The French international is hoping for an €8 million contract extension that would see him surpass Rafael Leao as the team's top salary. Milan has no intention of breaking the salary structure for it, and the pull continues. If the two sides can't reach an agreement in the summer, the RedBird Group will not hesitate to **. Because, the longer it drags on, the greater the loss.
At the moment, Maignan is worth 45 million euros, but Redbird expects no less than 80 million. This figure may be difficult to achieve, after all, the highest transfer fee in the history of the goalkeeper position is 80 million.
It is worth mentioning that Milan have conceded quite a lot of goals this season, but this is not Maignan's fault, the fault is that the team's midfield is not capable of interception.
In terms of ratings, Maignan has a rating of 8 this seasonThere were four matches above 0, with a 2-0 win over Bologna in the first round, a 2-0 win over Lazio in the 7th round, a 3-0 win over Monza in the 16th round and a 1-0 win over Sassuolo in the 18th round.
Last season, he only managed to score 8 in a 0-0 draw with Sassuolo in the fourth round and a 1-0 win over Napoli in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals0 and above.
So, Maignan is still that Maignan. It's just that the departures of Tonali and Maldini have caused the team's defense to slip too much. The departure of the former has left Milan with only Krunic and Adli at the back; The latter used to be the team's sporting director, but we know from Jiafu's interview that the team is more than just a director. His exact words are long, but the short summary is that the team is involved in every training session of the defenders and guides them to improve.
Milan are in dire need of a young centre-forward to carry the banner of the team's attack; Bayern are hoping to replace the 38-year-old Neuer with Maignan and Alphonso Davies, who may join Real Madrid, with Te'o. A three-way deal was born, with Bologna getting the money, Bayern getting the players they needed, and Milan getting the center forward + money, which looked like a win-win-win deal.
From the perspective of teams, players and fans, trading with Maignan and Bayern Munich is the most cost-effective. If it can be exchanged for Zirkze +20 million, this 20 million is enough to introduce a replacement. Even if it is a draw, Milan will not necessarily lose.
If Bayern's deal to buy back Zirkze for 40 million and then strengthen the exchange for Maignan can be reached, then congratulations to Milan!
**10,000 Fans Incentive Plan