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Exclusive: Why AC Milan refused to sign Ceballos as he nears Arsenal move

Exclusive: Why AC Milan refused to sign Ceballos as he nears Arsenal move

  • Fabrizio Romano
Dani Ceballos will not be a new AC Milan player. But he was close because in the first mission of Maldini, Massara and Boban in Madrid more than a month ago, there was also talk about the Spanish U21 international, in addition to Theo Hernandez.

Milan asked for Ceballos since the player had already received strong signals from the beginning of June even without the Europa League. The Rossoneri project and the weight of history did the rest and Ceballos would have gladly accepted Milan.

The real problem on that front, however, was the transfer formula. Seeing him as a protagonist at the European Under-21 Championship, Real Madrid chose to release him only on a dry loan, without any right or obligation of redemption.

The Rossoneri thought of it, memorized it but then chose other paths. The reason? Elliott does not want to exploit any player on a dry loan and then return him to other clubs. They want to buy themselves to create a project on individual purchases. Negotiations for Ceballos had to stop and eventually, the player understood and chose Arsenal, with the English club open to a dry loan deal for one year.