CM: Familiar factor stings again – why Milan failed to land Atletico Madrid full-back

AC Milan made a late move in the summer mercato for Nahuel Molina, but were once again let down by their lack of European football.

As Calciomercato.com recall, Milan sold Alex Jimenez to Bournemouth in the final part of the window and they tried to sign a right-back to cover for losing him. A number of names were linked – all of them from LaLiga – but in the end nobody arrives.

Tried but failed

Milan explored the full-back market over the last 48 hours of the mercato, but failed to find a solution that met their technical and financial criteria. Molina appealed because he was allowed to leave Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, and he knows Serie A well from his time at Udinese.

Juventus were linked with signing the Argentine but nothing came of it, and then Milan stepped forward to try get a late deal done. Atletico Madrid were actually open to negotiating, even willing to consider a loan.

However, the talks were nipped in the bud due to resistance from the player, who wanted to stay at the Spanish club because he still wants to play in the Champions League. It is a similar story involving Manuel Akanji, who ended up at Inter because of his desire to play in Europe.