Moncada: ‘Milan could buy Joao Felix, Gimenez worked hard to join us’ | OneFootball

Milan director Geoffrey Moncada thanks Santiago Gimenez for ‘working so hard’ to get the transfer from Feyenoord, while there is ‘a possibility’ they could purchase Joao Felix from Chelsea.

They are in action this evening for the Coppa Italia quarter-final against Roma.

It kicks off at San Siro at 20.00 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

The winner must be decided on the night and if the score is level after 90 minutes, they go directly to a penalty shoot-out, without the need for extra time.

The victors go on to face either Inter or Lazio in the two-legged semi-final.

Milan have all their new signings on the bench this evening, except for Warren Bondo who arrived from Monza with a muscular injury, so we could see Santiago Gimenez, Joao Felix and Riccardo Sottil make their debuts.

“It was very important that we act on the transfer market, as we changed some players, changed some of the characteristics and the structure of the side to give the coach more options,” Moncada told Sport Mediaset.

“There are high expectations, so by starting to win tonight in the Coppa Italia, then there’s the Champions League and Serie A, we need to step up a level.”

Milan invested heavily in Gimenez and Joao Felix

Official: Santiago Gimenez joins Milan from Feyenoord (picture via www.acmilan.com)

Gimenez was the biggest purchase and cost over €30m plus add-ons to prise him away from Feyenoord, replacing Alvaro Morata on his way to Galatasaray.

“It was a difficult negotiation process, we’d been tracking Gimenez since his time at Cruz Azul, we always kept in contact with him and knew there was a possibility of getting him in this window,” confirmed Moncada.

“It is always tough talking to the Dutch clubs, we saw that with Tijjani Reijnders too. Gimenez worked really hard along with his agent to push for this transfer. He was a profile we knew and wanted. We needed a Number 9 and Santi fits that profile.”

Joao Felix arrived on a dry loan from Chelsea at a reported cost of €2m, but there is no option to make it permanent. Could Milan try to buy him anyway?

“It depends on us and on him, there is always a possibility. We have a very good rapport with Chelsea, so we’ll see in the summer.”

Samuel Chukwueze had been in negotiations for a deadline day move to Fulham before it fell apart. Could he still go to the Turkish league, whose transfer window is open for a few more days?

“No, he is staying with us and represents another option on the right,” concluded Moncada.