Milan in for a striker & a midfielder but clubs tell them ‘no’

MILAN ARE running out of options as every club they have called has told them the player in question isn’t for sale.

Mario Balotelli will officially become a Liverpool player early next week and the Rossoneri are deep in the search for his replacement. They are also looking to sign a midfielder to add quality and depth to that department but there are difficulties.

Milan’s number one goal to replace Balotelli is Jackson Martinez of Porto. However, Adriano Galliani called their president Pinto da Costa but he told him that the player is not available for anything less than his buy-out clause – €30 million.

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As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Jackson Martinez, 27-year-old, will ask Porto to sell him this summer but it appears that the Portuguese club won’t be giving any discounts so Milan won’t actually be able to sign him. The Rossoneri also made an approach to sign Mattia Destro, 23, but Roma told them the player is not for sale (at least not for below €25 mil).

Gazzetta made a list Milan’s targets for the striker role and in addition to Martinez and Destro, the pink newspaper also had Javier Hernandez (26), Roberto Soldado (29), Fernando Torres (30), Alvaro Negredo (29) and Luis Muriel (23). In fact, according to Sky Italia, Galliani called Udinese today to ask about the availability of Muriel. Once again – the answer was negative; Giampaolo Pozzo told Milan the player is not for sale and Di Marzio thinks the name can be crossed off the list.A

Radamel Falcao (28) is Silvio Berlusconi’s dream but it’s clear that the Colombian is unattainable. Goran Pandev (31) of Napoli is also an option and while he was viewed as a winger or a second striker, he can also play as a prima punta. It’s believed that Torres (on loan) and Eto’o (free agent) are the likeliest options right now with SportItalia claiming that Milan could send someone over to London to talk to Chelsea about Spaniard. Torres has also been dropped from Chelsea’s squad for the Leicester match, which further fueled speculations that the Rossoneri could take him on loan + option to buy.

Milan are also interested in acquiring a midfielder and it appears that their attempts to sign Adrien Rabiot (19) have proved unsuccessful. Milan would’ve liked to take him on loan (or maybe a 2-year loan) but the player would have to sign a contract extension at PSG for that to happen and it doesn’t look like an option right now. The Rossoneri also made an attempt to sign Chelsea’s Marco Van Ginkel (21) on loan but according to Gazzetta & La Stampa, Chelsea told them it won’t happen.

With Rabiot and Van Ginkel apparently unavailable, Milan are turning again to Napoli’s Blerim Dzemaili (28) and according to Mediaset Galliani had dinner with the agent of the Swiss last night. Milan have also been linked with other midfielders.