7 hours ago
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Okay, the revenge part of the title is a bit exaggerated as Zvone Boban is a die-hard Milanista, but many fans have been left frustrated by the fact that Dinamo Zagreb will only cover 40% of Ismael Bennacer’s salary.
Ever since his six-month loan at Marseille came to an end, it was clear that Bennacer wouldn’t be part of the Rossoneri’s 2025-26 season. In fact, the management had hoped that the French side would redeem him at the end of last season but that never materialised.
As a result, Milan had to get to work on finding Bennacer a new club. The biggest hurdle was without a doubt the salary, as the midfielder currently earns €4m net (€7.4m gross), and the fact that the Rossoneri weren’t open to a loan initially didn’t help.
Dream scenario never materialised
Milan thought they had found the solution to the salary and the transfer formula problem, following contacts with the Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad. Bennacer even gave his go-ahead to the move, as reported by Matteo Moretto, but an official offer never arrived.
This was a huge blow for the Rossoneri as such a move would have guaranteed a capital gain (with a transfer fee of €10-15m), while Bennacer would have increased his salary. The search continued, nevertheless, and Trabzonspor were next in line.
However, the Turkish idea didn’t last for long as Bennacer rejected the destination. Even if Trabzonspor have started the season really well, the fact that they don’t feature in any European competitions likely played a huge part.
In the final days of the mercato, Bologna also expressed an interest but that pursuit seemed doomed from the start. The Rossoblu wouldn’t have been able to offer anywhere near the Milan salary and the transfer fee wouldn’t have been high either.
As a result of the above, the European transfer window (or most of it, anyway) came to an end and Bennacer remained within the Milan ranks. Focus thus immediately shifted to the leagues with an extended deadline.
Boban takes on 40%
Sure enough, Dinamo Zagreb and their president Zvone Boban stepped in and made a loan offer for Milan. While it’s a formula that the Rossoneri were initially against, they more or less didn’t have a choice in this case and thus accepted it.
An option to buy at €10m is included in the deal, which could potentially help Milan register a capital gain, but the main problem is the salary. Rather than it being covered in full by the Croatian side, they are only paying 40% (€2.96m gross).
This means that Bennacer remains a relatively expensive player on Milan’s accounts, costing €5.84m still, and that has left some fans upset. While you could argue that Boban has saved the Rossoneri money, it can also be seen as a coup of sorts and a jab at those who once fired him (Giorgio Furlani was at the club then).
As alluded to earlier, it’s not like Milan had tons of options but the feeling is still that they could’ve applied more pressure on the player. Furthermore, the Saudi Arabian window doesn’t close for a few more weeks, so there wasn’t a huge rush.
40% is better than nothing, don’t get us wrong, but the deal can only be considered somewhat of a success if the buy-out option is triggered. If not, then the Rossoneri won’t be left with much despite the World Cup taking place next year, which Algeria could potentially qualify for (and thus Bennacer would want to play as much as possible this season).
We have done a full financial breakdown on the mercato over on Substack, as we do every year, so we recommend checking that out if you want detailed figures.
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