Marino: ‘Milan right to take stand against immoral Zirkzee demand’ | OneFootball

Pierpaolo Marino argues Milan are right to take a stand against the ‘immoral’ commission demanded for Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee, even if they risk losing him to Manchester United.

Marino has been a Serie A fixture for decades, including Napoli, Udinese and Atalanta in the role of director of sport and technical director.

He has seen the costs in football escalate out of control and feels someone needs to call a stop to the situation.

“Milan should be taken as an example. They are doing the right thing by taking a stand against something that is an unwarranted and exaggerated tax,” Marino told MilanNews.it.

“If we are talking about a 5-10 per cent cut fine, but now people give commission to those who did absolutely nothing in a negotiation process and that seems highly immoral to me.

“When commission gets so high, there needs to be an investigation from disciplinary committees. We have to rebel against this, because if one club bows down to it, then the others follow.”

Why Milan could lose Zirkzee to Manchester United over commission

Milan have agreed everything with Zirkzee and Bologna, ready to pay the €40m release clause in his contract, working out personal terms with the player, who is enthusiastic about the move.

The only reason it hasn’t been completed is that the Rossoneri are refusing to pay the €15m commission demanded by agent Kia Joorabchian.

This has been the situation for several weeks now and shows no signs of either side budging from their position, which is why Manchester United feel they can come in and take Zirkzee by paying the full sum.

“I understand if the player is a free agent and he is taken to you, but if I have already paid €40m, why should I add this too?” continued Marino.

“I doubt any club is willing to pay that, or at least there shouldn’t be. I’ve dealt with demands for commission that are disproportionate – not as high as this, but still high – and I dropped the transfer because of it.

“When it’s reasonable, for example Molina who was a free agent that we then sold on for a lot of money. However, the cost of the agent cannot be 37 per cent of the transfer. Agents ought to get a percentage of the salary from their players, not on the transfer fee.”