SM Exclusive: Longo explains why Bennacer-level ‘sacrifice’ is more likely than a huge sale

Daniele Longo has shared with us his thoughts regarding AC Milan’s player trading strategy and whether he expects a big sale to be made in the upcoming summer window.

Perhaps the best example of the idea was Sandro Tonali’s sale to Newcastle United last summer. It was painful for a lot of fans from a sentimental point of view, but the management received an offer that constituted a club-record fee and knew they could rebuild the squad with it.

We spoke to Daniele Longo of Calciomercato.com as part of our ‘Meeting the Milan Media’ series over on Substack and he shed light on a number of interesting topics, including his day-to-day work and how he developed a passion for what he does.

As part of it, we asked the journalist for his thoughts on Milan’s player trading approach, i.e. selling big players every now and then to fund several targeted signings.

“I was born with the genius of Savicevic and the creativity of Boban, with Weah’s red shoes. A football that no longer exists. Back then, presidents spent a lot out of pure passion rather than for personal gain,” he said.

“I’m more for the good game than the result, more Ancelotti than Allegri. However, we live in a world where we often talk about ‘sustainability’, a fundamental factor in today’s football. The positive thing is that Milan no longer necessarily have to sell in order to finance the mercato

“I believe that the risk of this strategy – in principle – is that it can take you up to a medium-high level but not beyond. Milan, for example, is a healthy team which was able to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, no more. In that sense, the gap from the top four in Europe is still enormous and difficult to fill with this ‘sell to buy’ strategy.

“Having said that, Milan’s will is and will not be to sell the strongest players. I can assure you that the Rossoneri don’t need to sell Theo, Leao or Maignan to settle the coffers. Given the need to sign a striker of €50-60m in the summer, though, it’s clear that some sacrifices will have to be made. But they don’t have to be big ones.

“For example, a sacrifice on Bennacer’s level is more likely, a player who has given so much and one that Milan appreciate a lot. However, today he’s not as fundamental as the three aforementioned players. If an offer of €50m were to arrive for Bennacer, and one of €60m for Theo, I’m sure that Milan would negotiate to sell the Algerian.”