Yahoo Sports Gigio, Kessie, Zirkzee and the ‘cookie jar’: The implications of Milan’s crusade against agent extortion
AC Milan have a rollercoaster relationship when it comes to dealing with agents. Sometimes they can use links to their advantage, but other times are unable to gain that vital leverage and end of with an undesirable outcome.
The latest pairing of the words ‘commissions’ and ‘Milan’ involves Joshua Zirkzee. As we reported earlier today, the discussions have reached a make-or-break point and it is solely because of Kia Joorabchian and his Sport Invest UK agency.
After suggestions that the gap on commissions was being reduced, Zirkzee’s entourage – led by the British-Iranian businessman – have made it clear today that they will not budget on their €15m demands.
If Milan want to close the operation they will be able to do so quickly because as mentioned the figure of the clause is known as is the striker’s salary. However, the final green light is awaited from Giorgio Furlani and the ownership to approve the overall €55m expense.
The general feeling is that blowing up the deal now would be counter-productive after two months of work, however there is of course the more difficult issue of principle when it comes to commissions ahead of such an important window, plus 37.5% extra costs to account for.
The precedents
Fortunately or unfortunately in the eyes of directors around the world, agents and agencies hold a strong stake in the game and they are something that must be dealt with consistently.
Milan are no strangers to deals collapsing because of representatives wanting a bit too big a slice of the pie. The Gianluigi Donnarumma and Franck Kessie cases are the ones that stick out above all in recent memory.
Official figures never leak out, but La Gazzetta dello Sport spoke of requests of around €20m being demanded by Mino Raiola in order for Donnarumma to extend his contract with Milan in the summer of 2021.
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The result was that Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara – the directors at the time – decided in no uncertain terms that they would not be bullied and instead they went on the front foot. They signed Mike Maignan from Lille and told Gigio he could find a new club.
Kessie meanwhile left for the 2021 Olympics and promised that his renewal would be done when he got back, but the situation deteriorated and it became apparent that he would follow the fate of others that had left on a free previously like Donnarumma, Hakan Calhanoglu and Alessio Romagnoli.
What was interesting about this case is that his agent George Atangana gave his side of the story regarding what happened, amid the reports that he wanted a big signing-on bonus and that the salary demands for his client were astronomical.
“Calhanoglu, Donnarumma and Romagnoli have left and for the same reason it is also difficult to close current renewals, at least from what it seems to me. I don’t understand why only Franck’s farewell was so tormented,” Atangana said.
“The promise? Of course, that was the intention. However, a one-way renewal cannot be closed. We also rejected offers from important clubs in January, precisely because there was a strong desire to reach an agreement with Milan.
“There is one thing that strikes me as strange, which is that after Kessié’s farewell, it seems that certain ceilings that previously seemed insurmountable can now be breached.”
There are other names too that are even more recent and perhaps went under the radar but again showed the stance of Milan’s management team and ownership group to never give in to exorbitant demands from agents.
Matija Popovic seemed all set to join Milan on a free transfer from Partizan Belgrade, and yet a few days later the operation had completely collapsed. Two months of negotiations went up in flames inside 24 hours, starting with Popovic landing in Italy.
He touched down in the country despite differences having arose with the entourage of the Serbian talent which became irreparable. The decision to travel to Milano without having agreed everything was seen as a power play, and then they asked for unreasonably high commissions.
Then there was the Mehdi Taremi saga towards the end of the last summer window. The Porto striker seemed all set to travel for a medical on the penultimate day of the mercato and then all of a sudden everything combusted.
MilanNews reported at the time that the Rossoneri management simply could not accept the conditions posed by the new entourage chosen by the player, who in ‘an unprofessional manner’ changed the terms of the agreement before the deal closed.
Rather fittingly, they put it that ‘everyone wanted to dip their spoon into the cookie jar’ with commissions and demands for a salary increase. Then his agent Pedro Pinho claimed that Milan actually never even spoke to him.
The practical impact
Every agent is different and every negotiation varies for a number of different reasons, so perhaps the best way to look at what Milan’s business looks like is to take a recent window as an example.
Radio Rossonera claimed to have come into possession of a document outlining the amount that Milan paid to agents for the signings made in the 2022-23 period, relating to the draft budget approved by the last Board of Directors meeting.
Charles De Ketelaere was the marquee signing of the 2022 post-Scudetto summer transfer window, and in addition to the €36.5m operation agreed with Club Brugge, the playmaker’s entourage earned €2.8m from Milan.
Divock Origi came in second with his agents having got €495k from his free transfer from Liverpool. For the second most expensive purchase of the summer – Malick Thiaw from Schalke 04 for €8.8m – the Rossoneri management agreed to pay €400k in commissions.
Junior Messias’ agents earned €125k, while Alessandro Florenzi – represented by Alessandro Lucci’s World Soccer Agency – got just over €433k from the full-back joining Milan permanently. Devis Vasquez’s entourage got just over €267k for a total figure of €4.82m.
The other major negotiation, one that happened outside of the mercato, was the renewal of Rafael Leao until 2028. After resolving the fine issue with Lille, the commission that his representatives got was precisely €1,818,182m.
Although it is in all respects part of the 2023-24 summer mercato, the purchase of Ruben Loftus-Cheek was registered on 29 June 2023, thus becoming part of the 2022-23 budget. His agents got €925k from the operation.
Calcio e Finanza reported the amounts paid by clubs in commissions for 2023-24 back in March. The club that spent the most was Inter, which almost doubled the figure from 2022, while Juventus placed second, halving the budget allocated to agents compared to the previous year.
Inter spent €34,807,561 on commissions paid out to agents, while Juventus are on €23,055,874. Fiorentina are the team in third having spent €15,391,259.
Looking further down the list, Roma spent the fourth-most with €15,311,250, then Milan are just behind them in fifth on €15,274,174. Atalanta, Napoli, Udinese and Bologna are the teams that follow.
It is certainly a positive thing that Milan were able to limit the spending on commissions owed to agents, especially given that they made 10 signings during the summer window which meant that the propensity was there for the figure to be a lot higher.
The balancing act
Milan have found themselves at a crossroads again, one which can be simplified a tad too much to the following: pay up, or miss out on another major target that could have moved the needle for the future.
There is no doubting that the change in ownership is what has run congruent to Milan’s more hardline stance when it comes to dealing with players’ representatives, with Elliott Management coming along first to limit unnecessary expenses and then RedBird Capital continuing that prudence.
The two American funds – which in most cases use the same management guidelines – have undertaken a sort of crusade against what are considered figures that are outside of the boundaries of fair market value.
Every club chooses the strategies they deem most suitable and that of Milan is very clear: they will not and can not go beyond a certain limit, which is easily found in the financial statements of recent years but competitiveness on the field has returned.
However, it is only ‘competitiveness’, while Inter and Juventus continue to rack up at least one trophy per season. Many argue their willingness to fund a better on-field product whatever the cost (their wage bill and commission fees are much higher) is a sign of a burning desire to finish top with the most points not the best accounts.
Thus, returning to the current topic of Zirkzee: Milan strongly want him, but Giorgio Furlani and his team will be asking themselves over dinner tonight exactly how much they want him. Algorithms can quantify virtually anything, except potential fan discontent if another operation slips away.
