Gazzetta dello Sport Milan turning point Maldini says yes (but what a struggle) ‘At the last minute… but we signed’ Paolo and Massara continue for another two years Now the genius move: Dybala on the list Vieri on the attack ‘Lukaku will shift the balance and his opponents. Vlahovic will have assists’ ‘Inter, LuLa is a pairing worth 50-60 goals. Di Maria is OK for the Serbian, but Juve must play better football’ Chiellini’s gift Juve get Cambiaso thanks to the ex-captain Still need Dragusin to accept Genoa Asllani in the engine, that’s how Inter have two midfield dynamos Other solutions for I ..read more

Cremonese director Ariedo Braida confirms a story that during his time in charge of Milan, he smuggled Frank Rijkaard’s contract out of Lisbon in his underpants. Today was the start of the transfer market in Italy and all the directors gathered in Rimini for a gala dinner, as contracts run down and others begin from tomorrow morning. Braida is now at the helm of newly-promoted Cremonese, but he spent many years at Silvio Berlusconi’s Milan from 1986 to 2013. He spoke to Sky Sport Italia and confirmed an incident that occurred when the Rossoneri stole Rijkaard from Sporting CP in 1988. The rumo ..read more

Sassuolo director Giovanni Carnevali warns Roma must raise their offer for Davide Frattesi, while they ‘haven’t heard from PSG for 10 days’ about Gianluca Scamacca. The Neroverdi are at the centre of the transfer market in Italy and attracting a lot of attention from Europe too. It is reported there will be another summit between Sassuolo and Roma tomorrow, as the gap remains between the €20m offer and the €25m asking price. “We have a very good rapport with Roma, we’ve done several deals together, so if Roma really want to sign this important young man who is already in the national team, the ..read more

Now that Milan have finally resolved their directorial problems, they can step up negotiations with Chelsea for Hakim Ziyech. The Rossoneri were hamstrung on the transfer market by the uncertainty within the club, as new owners RedBird won’t fully take over until September, meanwhile directors Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara had their contracts set to expire at midnight tonight. Down to the last minute, Maldini left the Milan headquarters and confirmed to reporters outside that an agreement had been reached to extend their contracts to 2024. “We are happy to be here and ready to plan a futu ..read more

Paolo Maldini announced with barely an hour to spare that he has signed the new Milan contract. ‘We left it to the last minute, but we did it and are ready to plan a future with even more victories.’ According to multiple sources including the Corriere della Sera and MilanNews.it, Maldini spent several hours in the Milan headquarters with his lawyers today going over the final details of the contract that was only sent over this morning. He finally emerged at 22.20 local time, so just 100 minutes before the previous contracts officially expired. “Everything is sorted. We renewed at the last mi ..read more

Milan director Frederic Massara did not mention his contract, but discussed why the club ‘had to make do’ with financial limitations and it helped them win the Scudetto as ‘a collective.’ He was present at the opening of the Italian transfer market, which this summer is in the seaside resort of Rimini, and spoke on stage at the event after a chat and glass of prosecco with Roma director Tiago Pinto. The elephant in the room was the fact Massara and his boss Paolo Maldini have still not signed their contracts with Milan, with current deals set to expire at midnight tonight, but the fact he was ..read more

Italy international Gianluigi Donnarumma will be the first choice goalkeeper at Paris Saint-Germain under new coach Christophe Galtier. According to Le Parisien, Galtier started work in a meeting with director Luis Campos today and began by planning out the team for the future. That includes Italy internationals Donnarumma and Marco Verratti as first choice picks in the ideal XI, joined also by Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé. It is a change from his debut season in Ligue 1, when the goalkeeper had to share the gloves with Keylor Navas. The 23-year-old left Milan as a free agent and expected to ..read more

The dates and kick-off times of the first five rounds of the Serie A season are confirmed, starting with Milan–Udinese and Sampdoria–Atalanta on August 13. The 2022-23 campaign begins much earlier than usual in order to provide a gap for the 2022 World Cup in November and December. That means it starts during the Ferragosto weekend, when traditionally factories shut down and everyone goes on vacation. The opening fixture of the season will see reigning champions Milan host Udinese at San Siro at 17.30 UK time (16.30 GMT). At the same time, Atalanta visit Sampdoria, while in the evening match n ..read more

LOSC President Olivier Letang insists PSG have ‘made no offers’ for Renato Sanches, but does hint at Milan. ‘There is a big European club interested in him.’ The midfielder is out of contract next summer and has an asking price of circa €30m, although that should be lowered significantly considering the possibility he could leave as a free agent next year. French sources claimed today that Renato Sanches was in Paris to finalise the transfer, but this afternoon Lille presented new coach Paulo Fonseca – formerly of Roma – and commented on this situation in the press conference. “Renato Sanches ..read more

There are reports Paris Saint-Germain have increased their offer to €40m plus bonuses and are close to a deal for Sassuolo striker Gianluca Scamacca. The Italy international has been linked with numerous clubs over the summer, including Milan, Inter, Arsenal and Newcastle United. So far nobody has come close to the €50m asking price, but PSG may well be getting there. According to Calciomercato.com, after an initial bid was rejected, Paris Saint-Germain have increased their proposal to Sassuolo and reached €40m plus performance-related bonuses. There had already been suggestions in L’Equipe th ..read more