Maldini praises Theo Hernandez and reveals the truth about Modric negotiations
"We spoke with Rade already at the end of the last year, as well as with his agent and Empoli, trying to move in advance because we knew that four midfielders would leave. Theo? It's true that we are well covered on the left but we have always spoken about looking for functional players," he said.
"Theo is a young player, only 21 but he's already won the Champions League, he's already played in a great team. The idea is to reopen a new chapter, after the unfortunately closed one, in a club of the same level as Real Madrid.
"There are several factors we are looking for. Rade showed good things and we are sure that he still has plenty of room for improvement. Theo is one of the best fullbacks and must aim to become one of the top three in the world. His arrival is perfect in terms of timing.
"Veretout and Bennacer? These are two profiles that we have discussed. I see there is a lot of hurry and it seems that Milan is behind but the market ends on September 2. We want to give a complete team to the coach as soon as possible.
"Modric? We never negotiated for him. We are looking for young and strong profiles and experienced profiles that make them grow. A profile like Modric would be perfect but we have never negotiated for him.
"We have needs in some roles. If you look for quality profiles, they are very expensive. We have many players in sight, strong, with different characteristics. We must not be in a hurry to try to make as little mistakes as possible. There are good players in relegated teams as well as in great teams.
"The idea is to make the coach, the fans, the directors and the ownership happy. We have to make as little mistakes as possible. So many players have left us at the end of the contract and even at the numerical level, we have to intervene.
"We must remember that we have players who still have to join the team and are already part of this squad. The market idea of Milan is to improve the team. Four midfielders have left and that's where we'll have to intervene," Maldini concluded.