Serafini: Saelemaekers exit best for everyone as he ‘did not grow’ at Milan

Alexis Saelemaekers left AC Milan for Bologna towards the end of the summer mercato on an initial loan deal. A move that made sense for all the parties involved, as highlighted by Luca Serafini. 

Following the arrival of Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukwueze, Milan decided to put Saelemaekers on the market. The Belgian wanted guarantees on playing time and when he didn’t get that, he also decided to push for the move.

Bologna eventually convinced Milan to accept an initial loan offer, worth €1m up front and with a buy-out clause of around €12m. A move that benefitted all parties given the development in the last few years, as highlighted by Luca Serafini.

“The truth is that Saelemaekers didn’t grow in his 3 years at Milan. We were all enthusiastic about discovering him in the first few months, but the lack of progress turned into an involution that made him lose his starting spot towards the end of last season to Junior Messias,” he writes.

It remains to be seen if Saelemaekers will do well enough to get redeemed by the Rossoblu next summer. Milan would make a capital gain of around €9m if so, which would be a nice reward after the years since his arrival.