AC Milan have confirmed that they are interested in signing Fernando Torres and Marco van Ginkel, as we approach the transfer deadline day.
Torres has been linked with a move to the Italian Serie A ever since he was completely left out of the squad against Leicester City last weekend. Torres only made it to the bench for the opening day win over Burnley. Even though Jose Mourinho tried to dispel rumours by saying that Torres was crucial to the squad, rumours have grown ever since.
For the last few weeks, Roma were viewed as the favourites to sign the 30-year-old. After the sale of Mario Balotelli to Liverpool, Milan have entered into the frame. Notorious for their ability to get players on a cheap, Milan’s CEO Adriano Galliani says that they are in discussions with Chelsea over the transfer of Torres and Van Ginkel. He said:
“Torres is definitely a top striker. We will see whether we can sign him or another attacker.
“Signing Van Ginkel seems a realistic possibility. We have submitted an offer to Chelsea. We now await their response, but we are fairly optimistic.”
Van Ginkel is likely to move on a season-long loan deal, while it could be permanent move from Chelsea for Torres. Wages are the likely stumbling blocks in this deal. Torres, who earns £185,000 per week now and has two years left on his contract, is unlikely to want to pay cut. Either AC Milan will have to come up with the cash to pay his transfer fee and his wages, which they don’t seem to have, or Chelsea will have to subsidise the move.
Chelsea famously allowed Andriy Shevchenko, who was on £120,000 per week in 2008, to join Milan on a loan deal by paying much of his wages. It would not be surprising to see a repeat of the same with Torres, who has become an even bigger flop due to his £50 million transfer fee.
The strong competition in the midfield code be the reason behind Chelsea considering a loan deal for Van Ginkel. Against Leicester, Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas started the match and they are widely seen as the first choice midfield pairing. Mourinho has strong squad in the midfield considering that he still has Ramires, John obi Mikel, and Oscar capable of playing there. After having just returned from a long spell on the sidelines, regular first-team football is just what Van Ginkel needs.
