AC Milan are expected to sign a central defender this summer, and Giovanni Leoni is a name circled in red on their list of targets.
As Calciomercato.com write, January’s intuition has brought the desired results and now the €4,852,667 paid to Sampdoria seems like an absolute bargain for Leoni. The 18-year-old has impressed in his 17 appearances, especially against Napoli when he cancelled out Romelu Lukaku.
Allegri a big admirer
Massimiliano Allegri has watched Parma several times this season, sometimes even live at the Tardini, and has been left ‘bewitched’ by the personality of a defender who has now very firmly entered Milan’s sights.
The teenager has become the primary objective to reinforce a department which will see the farewell of Malick Thiaw, destined to return to Germany with Bayer Leverkusen linked.
In the next few days Parma will speak with Leoni’s entourage to take stock of the situation. Their idea would be to try keep the former Sampdoria talent for at least another season, but the call of the big clubs is strong.
Parma would want €15-20m to sell Leoni and they are aware of the strong interest from Milan, Inter and Napoli. Igli Tre has not wasted a single second since he took over as Milan’s sporting director and is working on several tables both incoming and outgoing.
The hope of the director is to quickly define the situation of Theo Hernandez with Al-Hilal, because with the potential €35m from his sale he would present an offer for Leoni, a clear strategy to try beat the competition.
