19-year-old Boca Juniors prospect Rodrigo Bentancur, who was courted by Real Madrid last winter, has emerged as Milan’s number one target for reinforcing the midfield after repeated failures to sign Borja Valero, Leandro Pardes and Milan Badelj.
Yesterday, there was news of Milan pursuing a mysterious South American prospect for the midfield. The mystery lasted for exactly one day as Gianluca Di Marzio reported yesterday that Milan has contacted Boca Juniors and their offer of €15 million is deemed satisfactory by the club.
The potential competitors for Bentancur
Real Madrid were reportedly interested in the youngster last season, according to Marca, but the bid was never made. Bentancur went on to have a productive season at Boca as he won the ‘revelation of the year award’ in South American football. Inter were also after the youngster, according to Gazzetta, but they didn’t pursue their interest.
However, there is a small complication which might be a stumbling block for Milan in their pursuit of the youngster. Juventus hold the right of first refusal on the youngster, which gives them an advantage over Milan. The option was acquired as a token of goodwill during negotiations regarding Carlos Tevez, who moved to Boca. Juventus has not shown any interest in the midfielder till now but that might change.
A late swoop for Marko Rog?
Sportitalia pundit Alfredo Pedulla reports that Milan have asked Dinamo Zagreb for information on Croatian youngster Marko Rog. Marko Rog was a part of the talented Croatian side that underperformed in the Euros this summer.
Rog has been heavily courted by Napoli this season as he is the top candidate to replace the outgoing David Lopez, who is a step away from joining Real Betis. Negotiations are understood to be in an advanced stage between Napoli and Dinamo Zagreb, so the seriousness of Milan’s offer is debatable.
Milan has been successful with the signings of Gustavo Gomez and Lionel Vangioni. They have turned their attention to yet another South American player based in Argentina and Lucas Romero is supposedly the alternative to Bentancur. There is very little that we know about these recent signings but Bentancur is definitely one of the prospective youngsters coming out of Argentina at the moment, and will be a good acquisition for Milan.
