Samuele Ricci just needs to complete his medical tests and sign his contract, then he will officially become AC Milan’s first signing of the summer. In many ways, it’s the perfect deal for the Rossoneri.
Ricci has been on Milan’s radar for a very long time, ever since he played at Empoli, and rumours in the last few months seemed to suggest that it was only a matter of time. Sure enough, Fabrizio Romano tweeted the ‘Here we go’ on Saturday afternoon…
A fantastic deal on all fronts
After months of negotiating, albeit with a slight interruption when Max Allegri and Igli Tare were appointed, Milan and Torino have reached an agreement at €25m including bonuses. To be precise, we are talking about €23m as the fixed part and €2m in bonuses.
As for the salary, Ricci is expected to sign a five-year contract worth around €2.5m plus bonuseswhich is very reasonable even without the Growth Decree. In terms of the financials, as such, you have to say that it’s a signing completely within Milan’s parameters.
There are more positives to this signing, though. In the 2024-25 season, it was painfully clear that Milan lacked a proper defensive midfielder. Youssouf Fofana did an okay job at times, but his ball-carrying abilities and interceptions were more key, as opposed to his positioning in defence.
Subsequently, the Milan centre-backs were exposed far too many times. Ricci, on the other hand, has made a name for himself in the No.6 role at Torino, working tirelessly in both phases. It’s a position that teams sometimes struggle to reinforce, especially at the aforementioned figures.
In addition to the price tag and position, you simply cannot look past the fact that he’s 23 years old and Italian. The lack of Italians has been a real problem for Milan in recent years, not just for the identity but also for the squad lists. The latter is something that shouldn’t be downplayed.
We usually see inflated price tags for Italian players precisely for that reason, so Milan getting Ricci for just €25m is fantastic on all fronts. Even the fans who perhaps aren’t convinced by his characteristics will surely agree with that.
No resistance from Torino and Cairo
Also relating to the price tag, it was very surprising to see how Torino and president Urbano Cairo approached the negotiations. Most of you might know it already, scarred from Milan’s negotiations over Andrea Belotti in 2017, but the 68-year-old is infamously tough to break down.
In the end, as was reported by Pietro Mazzara on Saturdayit was Torino that put pressure on Milan to complete the signing. You have to assume that Il Toro need the money to kickstart their own mercato, but there are likely other factors at play too.
First of all, Matteo Moretto stated on his YouTube channel that the deal has been more or less certain since January/February. Even Ricci’s renewal with the club was done in view of the sale, with Milan and Torino keeping talks alive throughout.
We can take two things from this. First of all, it’s clear that the negotiations remained at an advanced stage after the January attempt. Secondly, Ricci clearly gave his ‘yes’ very early on and started mentally preparing for a move to the Rossoneri.
These are two things that would be difficult to go back on. Sure, negotiations break down all the time, but opening talks with another club takes a lot of time (and there are no guarantees). A few other Serie A clubs were interested, including Inter, but Milan always remained one step ahead.
The Nerazzurri, for example, reportedly need to offload Hakan Calhanoglu before making any further changes to their midfield (or at least that role). Again, that takes time and Torino were eager to start making some reinforcements, opting for Milan’s cash offer.
Perfect start to the summer
All in all, this feels like a signing that every single Milan fan will get on board with, as Ricci ticks all the boxes. Not to mention that Luka Modric has also been secured for the midfield, which means the 23-year-old will hopefully be able to learn a lot from the Croatian.
The signing also came at just the right time. Most of us have been very impressed with Tare’s work so far, especially his strategy for the transfer market, but some concerns were starting to creep through about the lack of signings.
After all, the Raduno (first day of the pre-season) is around the corner and having as many signings as possible by then is crucial. Above all, the importance of having such a decisive role as the No.6 sorted cannot be overstated, as Lex Fofana taught us last summer.
It will certainly take some pressure off Tare’s shoulders, or at the very least it will free up time for other negotiations. The latter is perhaps the most important thing as, by all accounts, Tare isn’t one to get easily influenced by the media or fan criticism.
Aside from Modric, it will be very interesting to see who will be the next signing after Ricci. Negotiations For Ardon Jashari Remain OnGoing but Milan are also looking for a striker, while the left-back position is not vacant as a result of Theo Hernandez’s departure.
In short, there is still a lot of work to be done and we shouldn’t celebrate too early. But after years of signings that have been somewhat questionable, even if there have been some good ones too, we are allowed to enjoy it at least for a bit.
