'AC Milan are signing a great player in Alberto Aquilani' - CEO Adriano Galliani

The Move has not been announced officially by the Italian champions, but their CEO Adriano Galliani said they have reached an accord for the 27-year-old Italy international.

Terms have been agreed following weeks of on-off talks and Milan will have to pay Liverpool €6 million to make the transfer permanent at the end of the 2011-12 season if the 25-match total is reached.

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Galliani said: "We have got a player of great quality [in Aquilani], but now Milan's transfer market is closed."

Galliani's words thus bring an end to the search for the club's 'mister X'.

Earlier, Franco Zavaglia, the player's agent, said his client only wanted a move to Milan as he was in Liverpool trying to conclude business.

Aquilani is now expected to head to San Siro so he can sign for his new club on Thursday morning. An official announcement from the Italian side is expected later.

I don´t understand whats so great about aquilani. If he was so great why did not juve sign him? why did liverpool loan him out and are so eager to get rid of him?

Watched him play many times now and he never impressed me

he's good, just hasn't been consistent.

He has a creative flare no doubt about it, just needs to stay fit and have the right people around him.

i think he will fit in well. also consider that its a loan deal so thats good.

He is their MR.X ? Oh boy...

I don't think the market is closed. They will get somebody else on the last day of the market

Galliani-ibra is impossible to get.


1 month later: official: ibra in Milan. Never count galliani out. These are all a bunch of mind games.

Giggslegend wrote:I don´t understand whats so great about aquilani. If he was so great why did not juve sign him? why did liverpool loan him out and are so eager to get rid of him?

Watched him play many times now and he never impressed me

i have been wondering the same thing. if he was great, roma would have absolutely not even consider him in transfer market, nor will liverpool, juve wouldnt have mind forking out 15 million asking price.

i dont care if he is fit or not, or he is playing regularly in national team (he is sub anyway).. based on past 2 seasons he has been nothing but average and injured.

now we are taking liverpool's burden which sucks big time. just when milan should have been already got rid themselves of mediocre players another one joins in which is pain...

nevertheless i have faith in galliani, but he should have looked harder ... there are so much better players than aquilani.

Milanfan7 wrote:Galliani-ibra is impossible to get.


1 month later: official: ibra in Milan. Never count galliani out. These are all a bunch of mind games.

Can't see who, except Milan fans, he would be playing mind games with tbh.

The biggest losers of this particular deal is undoubtedly Liverpool..

They gave him to us on loan(a free one that is) and hoping that we would take up the option to sign him for 15m..But we kept dodging them and they did reduced the asking fee as well by a substantial amount but juventus management in the end decided to pull out of the deal cuz the coach wasnt interested in him i suppose..

Milan now as we see have snapped him up for a pittance amount although technically its a loan deal..

I think only time will tell whether Milan or Juve have made the right decision regarding this aspect..

Giggslegend wrote:I don´t understand whats so great about aquilani. If he was so great why did not juve sign him? why did liverpool loan him out and are so eager to get rid of him?

Watched him play many times now and he never impressed me

Juvi didnt sign him not because he's not good enough coz he is, they didnt sign him simply because they had Pirlo for free so there was no point in splashing the cash on someone who's going to set on the bench

Surag.Blueguy wrote:The biggest losers of this particular deal is undoubtedly Liverpool..

They gave him to us on loan(a free one that is) and hoping that we would take up the option to sign him for 15m..But we kept dodging them and they did reduced the asking fee as well by a substantial amount but juventus management in the end decided to pull out of the deal cuz the coach wasnt interested in him i suppose..

Milan now as we see have snapped him up for a pittance amount although technically its a loan deal..

I think only time will tell whether Milan or Juve have made the right decision regarding this aspect..

The fee to Roma was paid by previous management.We just want to get him off the wage bill now so not really a bad deal.After all we have allowed few dead woods to go on free to get rid of them from wage bill so getting a fee is atleast better than that.Neither does it concern us in the playing side of things us either.So we are not really losing anything.

We'll get the best out of him.

Aquilani is great business, and he will settle in quickly. We really needed a guy like him, no matter how little he has impressed people here.

I dont think its Liverpool alone who wants to get rid of him, he wants to go. All Italians want to play in Italy, it will always be that way (99 % of the time)

After all the mega uber hype over mister x, it ends up being Aquilani /facepalm

People here are seriously underrating this transfer

Yes its a loan.
Yes its Aquilani.
but,

Galliani fixed it so that Milan gets the most of it.

Here is what I mean,

First, Aquilani have long been labeled as a replacement for Pirlo, so far he failed to impress. Mostly due to injuries. He played good games for Liverpool and Juve, and both looked better when he played his best. However, he is not consistent.

Here is where the genius of Galliani shows; if Aquilani plays to his poetential and is consistent, he will play 25 games and we then buy him for 6 mill.

If he does not, we don't let him pay 25 games and we don't have to buy him.
Either way, we either get a quality midfielder(an area we need players for) or we get an above average midfielder for half a season (where we will not let him play the second half).

All for 6 million euros.

Since I like Aquilani, I am happy with the deal.

ac milan can do what they want but all i see them winning is the league.

they wont win a cl, you need a pretty good team and manager that does something exceptional and creates a worthy team.

ac milan isnt that team.

This is why I have to get angry... Marotta had the oppurtunity to sign Aquilani for 6m as vice, what does he do? He lets him go... This is why I praise Galliani for his intelligence within business as he knows how to get great players for cheap prices, once again questioning the logic behind this Marotta rejection.

Not a very good signing. Neither him or Montolivo are great players, but we ll see what Allegri can do. Milan set high standards at the start (Schweinsteiger/Fabregas). Both deals failed through. Then moved for lower level. Still in need of an AM. I think last day signing might happen... And if that happens then expect Milan in the top of Europe

Of course, Marotta leaves him and the rivals take him. Forza Marotta though I suppose.

sciacca wrote:This is why I have to get angry... Marotta had the oppurtunity to sign Aquilani for 6m as vice, what does he do? He lets him go... This is why I praise Galliani for his intelligence within business as he knows how to get great players for cheap prices, once again questioning the logic behind this Marotta rejection.

play him where though ? he wont bench pirlo, and its impossible to play both, and the way it seems vidal is gonna partner pirlo in the middle, so it was really wise not to spend 6m on a 4th choice midfielder (i believe he wont start ahead of marcisio)

lol at the guy saying Aquilani and Montolivo are not great players, the typical Milanista Bias, yet they complain about Inter /facepalm

Another great move by Galliani. Getting Aqua for 6m is pure genius, especially given the fact that they only need to pay up IF he plays 25 games. So if he sucks the big one, then they got him on loan for free and can just give him back. If he stands out then they can keep him for only 6m, what a brilliant move.

Playing with the likes of Cassano, Ibra, Pato, Robinho and Boateng up front will be pure bliss for Aquliani and will most definitely earn him a regular spot for the national team. I am predicting a big year for Aquilani. He will shine and it is good news for the national team.

The Madrid One wrote:ac milan can do what they want but all i see them winning is the league.

they wont win a cl, you need a pretty good team and manager that does something exceptional and creates a worthy team.

ac milan isnt that team.

Lets face it, if Barcelona is playing their "normal" game, no one can beat them, meaning only Barca can win the CL again. All one can hope for is avoid meeting them early in the knock out stages, and get to a final. Then perhaps you can man-mark Messi and Xavi like Inter did by playing EXTREME sacrifice-football. Thats the only way...

Pretty sure we're demanding over 10m pounds.

If we were going to take 6m euros for him, we could of sold him to Juventus, and even then, we would of made a little bit more.

Anyway, with Raul out and AA saying LFC appreciate him and he's happy to stay, we're pretty much in controll of the transfer. I highly doubt we'll let him go for only 6m euros.

@YNWA

The deal is done and dusted for loan and 6mil pounds next year.Every decent source have confirmed it including Galliani.He is undergoing a medical today at milan will be official soon.Also Raul is just out for a fortnight so not sure his injury will influence the deal.

Either way i am happy its concluded and hopefully Milan trigger the clause.This is the most tedious transfer saga i can remember in recent times and hopefully i dont have to through this nonsense of will he wont he again.

And good luck to Aquilani at Milan.