Adriano Galliani explains why Jonathan Biabiany’s move to Milan collapsed and how Giacomo Bonaventura “wept with joy.”
Adriano Galliani explains why Jonathan Biabiany’s move to Milan collapsed and how Giacomo Bonaventura “wept with joy.”
It has been a chaotic transfer deadline day for the Rossoneri, as Biabiany was announced on the club website and then his move from Parma abandoned because Cristian Zaccardo refused to join Parma in exchange.
Instead, only hours later, Milan secured Atalanta” data-scaytid=”6″>Atalanta wide man Bonaventura on a five-year contract for a reported €7m including add-ons.
“I am very happy with our transfer market,” Galliani told Milan Channel.
“In the market you must have the strength to wait and surprise your rivals at the end, as you do in a cycling race.
“The operation for Biabiany was very advanced, we had agreed terms with Parma and Biabiany, but Zaccardo refused this destination too.
“We had thought then we needed to find another player and thought of Bonaventura. He is a great player, but also a great person, as he wept with joy when signing the contract.”
Galliani had a very low-cost strategy this summer, selling Mario Balotelli to Liverpool for €20m and Bryan Cristante to Benfica for €6m, but mainly bringing in free agents or loans.
“Cristante asked us to leave because there are too many players in the squad. I tried to convince him, but he wanted to go.
“I had proposed him on loan to an Italian club, but he said he didn’t want to play against Milan, so he went abroad. He didn’t want to go on loan either.
“We reinvested the sum from Cristante for Bonaventura, who is still young and has so much quality. Once the Biabiany move collapsed, we went on a real blitz for Bonaventura.
“I really like Biabiany and he has always shown a lot of affection for our club colours. It’s a shame, I am really sorry, but these things can happen in football.”