Cheers for your appreciation for my report, very glad you liked it so here comes a status update and some speculation:
The Galliani-Rossell-Raiola meeting finished much earlier than expected, it lasted just over 2 hours. After the meeting, Galliani is quoted in the Gazzetta dello Sport website, that there is a 50% chance that Ibra will join Milan, but Raiola is quoted as saying that the parties "are no closer than yesterday".
Sandro Rossell is off to Ibiza for the weekend and has invited Galliani to continue talks there if they are not concluded earlier. Galliani, on the other hand, is eager to get Ibra to Milan already tomorrow in time for the Serie A premiere on Sunday.
Galliani came out of the meeting saying that they are negotiating for a full buy, no loan. Also, he said Robinho is an alternative, but Ibra is their target. The really interesting thing is that Galliani also mentioned that he hasn't talked to Zlatan yet but will do so now, so he and Raiola jumped into a silver Mercedes to talk to Ibra personally. The thing that puzzles me about this is that Galliani was quoted yesterday as to have the personally conveyed approval of the player to move to Milan, so maybe he hasn't after all.
A rumour about Zlatan being willing to go down from €12 m to €10 m /year to play for milan has reached a lot of media outlets. I don't believe this for a second, though - Raiola said yesterday that "If you ask me if Ibra will cut his wages, you don't know me very well."
Also, another rumour has begun to circulate, it's very weak but still: that Adebayor is on his way to Barcelona.
Now, what do we make of all this is anyone's guess.
My guess would be, and I want to underline that this last part is pure speculation from my side (and also what I hope will happen):
If the rumour about Ade to Barca has legs, it would be a really juicy story. It would mean that City offers both Robinho and Ade to Barcelona for Zlatan, and Robinho continues to Milan without passing "go". Milan pays Barcelona somewhere around €m 20-25, a much more feasible sum for a world renowned star.
Of course, City could offer Robinho without Ade + 20-25m€ and also directly sell Robinho on to Milan for another 20-25€. Wit this scenario, the total income for Zlatan's sale would amount to €40-50 m, which is their price tag for Ibra.
This would also be supported by the fact that the meeting was surprisingly short, remember that Galliani is used to intense marathon negotiation sessions, as Garry Cook surely would confirm. They just hit the point where they need to propose this scenario to Zlatan (and maybe also Man City?).
With this very unlikely but still not unfeasible scenario, a handful of birds are killed with one stone:
- City, and above all Mancini, gets Zlatan
- City gets rid of the Robinho problem
- If Ade is part of the deal, City draws sown the number of forwards in the squad and avoids an unhappy Ade on the bench as in the last games
- Guardiola gets rid of his Zlatan problem
- Barca doesn't lose face by selling Zlatan on the cheap to Milan
- Barca get funds to buy Mascherano from Liverpool and possibly some cash from City in the deal (or even launch a sneaky last assault on Fabregas?)
- Milan gets an internationally superstar player they (Berlusconi above all) crave that can capture the imagination of the fans.
- Raiola gets a fat pay check
The only person that needs some convincing is Zlatan, as he desperately wants Champions League action, and my guess would be that Galliani is proposing this scenario at his place with Raiola right now.
I'm sure that Galliani and Raiola will convince him that he will become the highest paid footballer in football and the chance to shine in the Premier League. I'm also pretty sure that he will have a lot of bonuses and some clause in his contract to walk if 4th place isn't achieved, Barca first refusal option (Guardiola has only renovated his contract for one more year and could walk or be replaced next summer).
Yes, maybe I need to go get some fresh air and stay off the coffee for a while :P...
