‘A matter of principle’ – Di Marzio revisits collapse of Zirkzee-Milan talks | OneFootball

Gianluca Di Marzio has offered some more insight on AC Milan’s pursuit of Joshua Zirkzee, revealing that he didn’t arrive because of a ‘matter of principle’.

In an exclusive last month we pieced together the full background on the move. The starting point was that the hunt for a new striker began practically at the end of last season, when it was certain that Olivier Giroud would not renew and would head for the United States.

Milan moved well in advance to try and get Zirkzee, reaching an agreement with the player over salary and expressing to Bologna that they were ready and willing to trigger the €40m release clause in his contract.

What happened then is now infamous: Geoffrey Moncada and Giorgio Furlani did not find an agreement regarding the high commissions requested (€15m) and they froze the negotiations after Manchester United entered. He ended up going to Old Trafford, and Alvaro Morata arrived instead.

Di Marzio gave an interview to Il Giornale and he spoke about why Milan abandoned their pursuit of Zirkzee having seemingly got so far to the finish line, confirming it was due to the agent’s requests.

“They made it a matter of principle. I also understand that these foreign owners who are used to other percentages in their negotiations find it out of the market to give 40% to the agent, they did not want to adapt to the market,” he said (via MilanNews).

“In the Bundesliga and in the Premier League it is the norm, for example Borussia Dortmund paid more in commissions than for the Guirassy card (€17m for the release clause and €20m in commissions).

“I understand that, but it is also true that the Rossoneri have missed a good opportunity to heavily strengthen the attack.”