Sky: Trusted collaborator told Allegri to sign rising Atalanta star – the background

AC Milan strongly considered signing Honest Ahanor from Genoa in the summer, but ended up priced out of the deal.

As Sky report, Ahanor has already demonstrated great potential despite being just 17 years of age. Last season with Genoa, he became the youngest debutant in the leagie, and Atalanta decided to invest over €20m to land him.

The full-back is repaying the Bergamo club’s faith in him, even attracting the attention of Gennaro Gattuso. The Italy coach has revealed he is working on a call-up to the Azzurri for Ahanor, but he is currently ineligible for Italy because he does not yet hold Italian citizenship.

Milan’s attempt

Atalanta were not the only team interested in Ahanor in the last summer window. Milan were also keen on the defender, an interest that began with Massimiliano Allegri’s arrival as the head coach.

Photo by Simone Arveda/Getty Images

One of Allegri’s trusted collaborators and former teammate at Padova – Simone Tognon – worked with Genoa’s youth academy until a few months ago. Tognon closely followed Ahanor’s development and advised Allegri to go out and get him.

However, the teenager’s price tag had already risen above €20m, a figure Milan weren’t willing to spend with the budget available to replace Theo Hernandez (who moved to Saudi Arabia). In place of Ahanor, Milan ultimately decided to go for Pervis Estupiñán.