Yahoo Sports GdS: ‘Abraham, the 9 for Fonseca’ – why Milan and Roma are pushing for a swap deal
AC Milan are Roma appear to be closing in on a swap deal that involves Tammy Abraham and Alexis Saelemaekers, according to a report.
According to this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), the deal will be Saelemaekers plus cash for Abraham, with Paulo Fonseca getting another striker as he has been pushing for since Alvaro Morata joined.
The two players quickly found an agreement with their prospective new clubs but in order for everything to be completed the details of the deal between the two clubs still need to be defined. The common will suggests that today could be the day for that.
Milan and Roma will resume discussions this morning and the distance has been reduced to a minimum. The negotiation started with a distance of around €5m as Roma asked the Rossoneri for a cash amount of €10m to make the swap happen, but now things are a little closer.
The Giallorossi should be satisfied with around €7m and it is not excluded that in order to close, a small sacrifice will also be required from the players, and specifically from Abraham, who currently earns €5.5m net per season (€7.3m gross, thanks to the growth decree).
Milan could thus save a little on his salary, also thanks to the Englishman’s absolute conviction in moving to Milan, where in addition to playing the Champions League he would reunite with friends from his Chelsea days, such as Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic.
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On Roma’s balance sheet, Abraham currently has an amortisation figure of around €17m. Basically, the capital club cannot go below that figure if they are to avoid a loss. Last year Milan valued Saelemaekers at around €12m when he was loaned to Bologna.
In essence, the starting point of the Rossoneri was born from this consideration. Roma, however, do not see only a €5m difference in the valuation of the two players and they started from a price of €22.5m for the English centre-forward, which was the same price they asked West Ham for.
That may be fine for Milan, but at that point the amount of Saelemaekers’ valuation must also be increased. By how much? The two clubs are thinking precisely about the answer to this question, but around €15m seems a sensible compromise.
Beyond accounting issues, the deal arose from squads needs. Fonseca has long been an admirer of Abraham, a No.9 capable of attacking spaces and scoring goals, when he isn’t injured. In 2021-22, Tammy scored 17 goals: more than Morata and Giroud have ever done in the Italian league.
After the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in June 2023, Abraham played just 13 games last season, scoring just one goal. However, it is equally true that if this were not the case, Milan would hardly have been able to carry out the operation with Roma.
