Stephan’s move to Ligue 1 was made official on Monday as the striker looks to bounce back from his last two disappointing seasons with Milan.
The move was virtually done on Friday evening but today Stephan El Shaarawy was in Monte Carlo to successfully undergo the medical check-ups before signing a contract with the French club.
“A.C Milan announces that Stephan El Shaarawy has moved to AS Monaco on a loan deal with the French club obliged to buy further down the line,” a statement on Milan’s website read on Monday.
The entire operation would cost Monaco €17-18 million (depending on the source reporting it) and their obligation to buy Stephan ‘down the line’ will reportedly in fact be an obligation after the player has played 15 matches with the Les Rouges et Blancs.
“At this moment it really is difficult for me to find the words to describe my state of mind,” El Shaarawy wrote on his Instagram account, uploading a picture of himself in a Milan kit.
“It all happened very quickly and in 24 hours I found myself having to make a decision that I am certain can be the best for me and for my career. I don’t need to underline how disappointed I am to leave a club like Milan and its fans. Other than the fact I’ve been tied to these colours since I was little, it’s difficult to leave a club that has always supported and had confidence in me, even in the worst moments.
“However, I think the moment has come for me to change direction and take on a new challenge with grit and the utmost enthusiasm. I’m sorry, too, that I was unable to give my total contribution due to injuries over the last two seasons… but I always honoured and respected this jersey, from the first day to the last.
“These four years have given me so much, helped me to grow, enriched me as a player and a man. I thank Milan, all staff and all my teammates over these seasons. We had many victories, as many defeats, but always alongside great people. I will hold on to every teaching and every piece of advice I was given.
“And finally I must thank you, the fans, last but not least… in fact, unique and special… Thank you for the affection you’ve always shown in every occasion, above all in the negative periods. And thank you for the wonderful words and message that even today, despite the fact I have changed shirt, you continue to send me. I will carry them in my heart forever. Truly thank you to everyone.
“Au revoir, Stephan El Shaarawy,” concluded the striker, who will be wearing the #22 jersey number.
Through Milan’s website, Adriano Galliani sent a message to El Shaarawy, telling him that “Milan would like to thank you for the dedication and hard work you have always shown with the red and black shirt and for the goals and talent you have shown in these four years together. We all wish you the very best for the rest of your career as a footballer, both at club level and also with the shirt of Italy.
“Ciao Stephan, all the luck in the world.” A few Milan players (and many fans) sent tweets to El Shaarawy, who will be turning 23 in October, wishing him good luck in his next challenge in France.
I feel sad but I guess its good for both parties..Good luck il farone
i hope he does play only 14 games. he needed time and he will prove all of you wrong SES has everything to become a star and he costs much more than 17M. LVG said, “when you buy, you have to buy better than you have” is Luiz Adriano better than SES? of course NO. we sold Rami and extended Mexes’s contract better than we had right? another huge mistake from Galliani and Berlu. what was the point of spending everything if we continue to sell our real stars and keeping players like Monto, Honda, Cerci, Menez, Matri, Nocerino, Albertazzi,… Read more »
@ levano
you have some good points there
I also feel we need to lose some of our less than average players even if it means taking a loss on them just to get them out of the way and free up funds for wages ext….
The fact you just said SES is better then Adriano is a joke. I stopped reading after that. SES is fast can only really use one foot and is terrible in the air. Luiz Adriano on the other hand is fast can use both feet has a killer shot and can get up in the air. Your argument is invalid
Hahahaha how foolish. What has Luiz achieved, if he’s so good why was he dropped out of Brazil squad. Scoring 8 goals against team Bate Borisov means nothing. He barely scored in Ukrain League but SES is younger and achieved much more. He’s is in Italy’s squad and scored in much more high class league. SO INVALID!
What has SES achieved exactly? LOL He had half of a good season, since then hes been injured. Good joke bud
You just continue watchin Ukraine’s League. He’s not good enough to be a striker for a team without a striker, i’m talking Brazil’s national team. SES on the other hand has his spot in Italy’s squad, is younger and scored against Italian clubs which love to defend and in the league where it’s hard to score. So whose comment is invalid? Think before humiliating yourself
Brazil doesn’t have a striker? Oh ok. I guess Fred is a defender then. Adriano will be good in this league. He was garbage in the Ukraine league because he had literally no support. Pair him with bacca and Ibra he will shine. Watch.
if you can’t joke don’t do it. trying to be funny, guess what you’re not. he hadn’t support? who was then William, Costa and other good midfielder that Shakhtar had? their midfield was better than ours for last 2 or 3 seasons.
It’s almost like he’s having an affair seeing him with another club!! I feel sick to the pits of my stomach that it didn’t work out for him and its only because he was never coached properly that it didn’t I truly believe he has what it takes to become world class if like I said he’s coached correctly, whenever he was given the freedom to attack (which was almost never) he was very very good even though admittedly a little predictable at times but that’s exactly what he needed coaching on, to be less predictable and I feel Milan… Read more »
look how happy he is and look how sad i am: how ironic. Anyways all i can wish him is an injury hit campaign and a swift return back to the rossoneri. Please don’t hate me, its just how i feel. This can’t be true…well, it is. Just take it with a grain of salt.
Comment:guy long story.you dont buy a strong team with injury prone players
Comment: olodo, pirlo is injury prone but he left milan for juve and won four scudetto in a row. That is why i agree to Pato about our medical team they are lacking behind.
I wish el shaarawy an injury free season and i know that after two years juve will go for him
I understand and i truly feel the pharaoh will make good out of this move but we have to remember he wanted to leave. We didnt force him out he wanted a new scenery can only look forward from here and hope for the best for all.
I heard 3 mil down and 13 mil when he goes past 15 games. And that lump Sterling just sold for 68mil. Unbelievable. I had a wait and see approach about this but f that. I’m pissed.
I am an Ac Milan fan for years now and I am so fed up right now !! Letting all our young players go as if they are worth nothing! Alexandre(Pato) Bryan(Christante), Riccardo(Saponara) and now Stephan(El Sharaawy) !!! I always considered myself as a true Milanisti, no matter how high we lose ore even get relegated. But at this point I am not to sure if I am able to keep cheering for a club that treats there fans, talents and legends like a bunch of garbage! The joy was to see them play and if injured ore what ever… Read more »
do u call this business? €16mil. Don’t make me laugh. Mourinho would have sold for £50mil. Anyway just get me gundogan and i’ll be appeased.
Who’s next? De Sciglio? Gabriel seems to be on his way out already. Mastour? Sure, for 4-5mil, cash in already. Actually we should probably get rid of Mastalli, Vergara, Donnarumma, De Santis and Di Molfetta as well. Let’s keep this youth project rolling. On a bit more serious note, I think Farao could’ve done well as a more of a secondary striker in our alleged 4-3-1-2 bringing more versatility and support to the likes of Luiz. But what do ya know, he’ll probably end up being stellar for Monaco and then get sold to an actual big club for 50mil… Read more »
He just never had a proper coach. He flourished under Allegri, a real coach. Under Seedorf and Pipo, a lack of direction for the team and injuries just killed his potential. Sometimes I wish Allegri never left, but he lost the locker room and his own will once all the key players left his team. It was time to part with Allegri no matter what, but I wish we brought in a real coach. These coaching experiments rarely work.
epl team always done things like that. So? if you want to sell players expensively, then sell it to england.
Let’s look @ it this way, when we won UCL in 2003 and 2007 how many youngsters were in the team? And what’s with the mentioning of Pato when we all knew he’d breakdown after he returns to the field while @ milan. The management wants results so do I. Milan has never been known to be an academy club where we groom players to sell. Bacca and adriano both had stellar seasons in Europe respectively plus zlatan? Milan will be the highest scoring serie.A side.
I had neva see any player dat left milan dat makes me lost some drops 4rm ma eyes..el92 so so so sad.. If we can comprehend his statement u wl knw dat dey force him out. I wonderd. wen Milan wl sell a player dat wl cost £70m?. Gv dis young lad a space and dump old cargos likes of zarc.,Norc… Dis 1 tels me dat harchim mastour wil soon go and it wl nt strange to me….. D only superstar we have wit Mohawk style…;(bitterness.. U spoil dis interestin transfer window 4me… Mastour be prepair To derby county
This is one of the biggest mistakes of Milan. Even if Milan were selling him for 40 mio…i would say the same! That kind of players are very rare. Injury Prone? bullshit…..Pato is doing really good in Brasil.
Pros: he’s injury prone. Can’t play with Alfa male strikers. Defenses in Seria a have figured him out. He’s not versatile enough to play both sides and in an open field style of play. Cons: he’s very young. He’s a true rossonero at heart and has great character. He carried the club on his back before Balo joined up. He can still learn and adapt. I may have missed more points but ya’ll get the picture. I think it’s even honestly. But the sum that we sold him for is ridiculous in my book. Not when a 20 year old… Read more »
Very true the defenders have figured him out in serie a
I cant say am happy about this, man am gutted! Why sell him over Menez, Matri, Cerci etc? I understand he will definitely not be first choice striker due to arrivals of Bacca and Adriano and possibly Ibra. Considering SES is still young and also being a fan favorite we should have kept him smh. I wish him the best of luck at Monaco, hope he returns back to Milan one day.
we need world class players !
The fact that people seriously are still bringing up Cerci is a joke. Not reading my numerous comments on him are one thing, not knowing that WE CANT SELL HIM! is another thing. Again, let me repeat this WE CANT SELL CERCI!. He is not our property. WE DO NOT OWN HIM.
thank you. Bless you.
Well sure we don’t own him but we pay his wages and yes part of our bloated attack. We can terminate his loan. And I think it would be in our best interest to do so. Leverkusen are already sniffing around him
We can’t offload him. He was part of the Torres deal. We are paying Torres wages and Athletico is paying cercis. The logistics of a deal are far to complicated to offload him
Maybe not sell Cerci but we can offload him, that’s the point some people are making i think, and that’s why German clubs want him for some reason. I hope he leaves as I never understood the hype about that guy in the first place. People get blinded by one “great season” and think he’s the next Messi. Bit like with SES.
A bit like Immobile
He was never happy
I ll be laughing if Pharaoh make one or two superb seasons at monaco and then reeal madrid ort atletico or manchester cty utd chlsea or psg bid around 50mil and take him…
I’m affraid galliani sold el sha for 16 mil and monaco transfered 4 mil to galliani private account..is that possible?…hahaha..just my flash thinking..forget it
Your not that far off. His transfers are head scratching worthy. Even the board called his transfers “weird”. Fester deals with only a few agents. That right there is an indication of something behind the scenes. Now that some clubs are owned by heads of states and billionaires you’ll see a lot of strange transfers. There will be a lot of favors done behind the scenes
It’s funny how you guys compare Pato”s case with SES’s, Pato already proved himself @ milan, either playing as a RWF Or CF, SES can’t even swap wings/position in 4years, one footed player. And for the comparison with sterling, I must tell you 49Mpounds is quite high but he’s versatile, he has played in LWB, RWB, RWF, CF, LWF and guarantees a full season.
SES has potential so did Pato… Milan is not a team to wait 4 years for a player. We have Bacca, Adriano & Probably Ibra up front. Niang is also here. After Ibra arrives even one of Cerci or Menez should leave too. They offered him Another playing position. He refused! He don’t care about anything but himself, I remember Milan legends changing position for this shirt. I remember Serginho playing as a LB, I Remember Kaladze (who maybe you don’t remember that he was a midfield) playing LB & CB for years and even adapting to it just for… Read more »
He didn’t refuse! He wanted to stay. I quote : I’ll go where I’m wanted.
Why I think this it horrible 1. He started to show signs of his old self at the end of the season. He also played well for Italy recently. Also last season the teams tactics, game plan, etc weren’t that good. 2. In this current market 16m is a quite low price. How many goals has Falcao scored the past 2 seasons. He’s not going to be sold under 30m. Even last season he wasn’t injured. 3. I think he can play as a striker, and it’s a shame that he wasn’t given pre season to prove himself 4. Football… Read more »
Good work Baldy. Looks like he’s finally learnt his lesson. i.e. not hanging on to injury prone player for years until we have to sell him for peanuts, like a certain Mr. Pato. Who, by the way, had 10x the skill of SES.
Great Milan…. In next two season we will buy him back to our club, that is how Milan will never learn from our mistakes … Thaigo Silva, Ibra … ETC. I wish you the best of all SES…So sad to see you leaving.
I’ve been watching Milan a long time, and for me this might be the last straw! F**k you who ever made this decision, 4 3 1 2 is a formation for small teams, big teams are all playing 4 3 3 (the modern formation). El Shaarawy was our Cristiano Ronaldo, our Messi, our pride and joy! Don’t like any of the replacements, if a project was indeed for Milan this summer would had been an easy one : a top shelf defender midfielder and attacker and nothing else . Who did we get and lose again?
as of great talent he is. i always have and still think suso is a greater talent than el shaarawy. suso can be a lot more useful to us because hes a type of player that can play the trequartista role and i truly hope this year is his breakout year and he plays fantastic there.
Don’t wish him to play well , he will be sold as soon as he nets a few goals
So sad that he’s leaving. We didn’t give him any time and now he’s leaving for only 18 million. A played like SES will be worth 50 in a couple years. Typical Milan mistakes, never giving anybody time to grow