Milan to Nab Another New Fullback, Wait for Hojlund | OneFootball

Milan will have to spend a little more than they originally thought, but they are on the precipice of securing Zachary Athekame from Young Boys, and they are in talks with Manchester United for Rasmus Hojlund.

According to L’Equipe (via Calciomercato), the Swiss fullback is expected to arrive in Italy for the medicals later this week. The two teams are in advanced talks on a €10M fee plus a 10 percent resale clause. The Rossoneri ramped up the negotiation after pausing it due to the flash deals involving Malick Thiaw and Koni De Winter.

While Athekame has rejected other offers to move to Milan, one of the main hurdles for Hojlund is that the player would like to stay at Manchester United to compete for minutes despite the increased competition after the arrival of Benjamin Sesko, La Gazzetta dello Sport informs.

The Rossoneri have laid the groundwork for a loan with a decent-sized initial fee and a beefy option to buy. The total package would amount to roughly €45M. The Dane makes €4M per year, which isn’t an issue. The brass will work on his flanks for about a week. If they can’t break through, they’ll resume pursuing other outcasts from top clubs like Dusan Vlahovic, Gonçalo Ramos, and Nicolas Jackson.

Our Take on Milan Signing Athekame and Eyeing Hojlund

Having to persuade a player to join isn’t a great place to be, especially if he’s not exactly world class. Plus, he’d have to go like gangbusters for it not to be a simple season-long loan. He has arguably more upside and is more gifted, but he’s really that different or markedly better than Santiago Gimenez.