AC Milan had agreed a deal to sign Geoffrey Kondogbia before losing out to Inter Milan, general manager Adriano Galliani has said. Galliani ...
AC Milan had agreed a deal to sign Geoffrey Kondogbia before losing out to Inter Milan, general manager Adriano Galliani has said.
Galliani had suggested after Friday's negotiations with Monaco that Milan could be priced out of a deal for Kondogbia, but he has now told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he thought a deal was in place on Saturday.
However, widespread reports emerged later in the day that Inter had beaten their city rivals to the France international after agreeing a deal reported to be worth around €40 million.
"At 1.30 it was all done," Galliani said, according to Football Italia. "Monaco had given us the all-clear for the sale at €40m with payment spread over two years -- €20m and €20m.
"The agreement with Geoffrey had already been sorted out the night before and was confirmed that same morning by him and his father. After we exchanged the documentation, at 1.30 p.m. everyone disappeared. Evidently they changed their minds or the others offered more."
#Inter scatenata: soffia #Kondogbia al #Milan! Poi @CA2015, #calciomercato, gara-4 di @LegaBasketA... #primapagina pic.twitter.com/GZOkKkyMdF
- LaGazzettadelloSport (@Gazzetta_it) June 20, 2015
Galliani said he told Doyen Sports chief executive Nelio Lucas, who was assisting in the talks in Monte Carlo, that "in certain negotiations you have to act like a father with children. A 'no' is more difficult to accept than a 'yes,' but we cannot accept these figures. At times it requires more courage to get up and walk away from the table than to stay, so let's go."
Milan also look set to miss out on Porto striker Jackson Martinez, who is reportedly set to join Atletico Madrid for €35m.
Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa had said previously that Martinez had agreed to join Milan, but Galliani remained philosophical over the recent transfer failures.
"If we save €40m on Kondogbia and €35m on Jackson Martinez, we'll have another €75m to spend wisely over the rest of the transfer window," he said. "Whether that's a good or a bad thing, only time will tell."
