AC Milan make opening bid for Yunus Musah

Talks between AC Milan and Valencia over Yunus Musah’s switch to San Siro are underway after the Italians made their first approach on Monday.

According to Fabrizio Romano, after testing the waters for ‘one of their main targets,’ the Rossoneri have submitted a verbal offer of €17 million plus add-ons.

Musah may not be the club’s first choice to replace Sandro Tonali, who left for Newcastle United last week, but he seems to be the most attainable target.

Sassuolo’s Davide Frattesi would ideally be the Italian’s heir at Milan. However, the competition to acquire his services is as stiff as it gets, with Inter Milan and several Premier League clubs mooted as possible destinations.

Long-serving Lazio playmaker Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is another potential candidate to fill the vacancy, though the Rossoneri would likely need to beat several wealthy Saudi Arabian clubs.

With the room for manoeuvre narrowed to a minimum following the completion of Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s arrival from Chelsea, Milan must make their next move based on due diligence.

As they’re operating on a tight budget, they can ill-afford another poor judgement, like last summer when they made Charles De Ketelaere their marquee signing, only for the Belgian to flop in his maiden Serie A season.

But unlike De Ketelaere, who moved in from his native country, Musah has accumulated nearly 100 top-flight appearances in La Liga across the last three seasons at Valencia.

The 20-year-old was impressive in 2022/23, although Los Che avoided relegation by a tight margin, and enjoyed an eye-catching 2022 World Cup with the United States last December.

Despite securing La Liga survival, the Spaniards face financial uncertainty and won’t mind letting their talented youngster leave for the right price, which promises to boost Milan’s bid to take him to the San Siro.

Musah learnt his trait at the Arsenal youth academy before moving to the Estadio de Mestalla in 2020, so he’d come with a distinguished pedigree.