Given the valuation of the two teams, the upcoming match between Inter and AC Milan on Saturday night has been called the “€1 billion derby.”
The EU allotted €500 million for violence against women in the previous day, and Banco BPM issued bonds worth €500 million, according to this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), while the value of the Milan team is comparable.
According to the newspaper, the total value of the Rossoneri players is €550.2 million, indicating the level attained. Stefano Pioli must be happy with the team’s increased depth when he considers it.
Despite not necessarily having an edge on the field, Milan’s team is worth more overall than Inter’s.
Although Milan is ranked 14th in the world in terms of squad worth by Transfermarkt, this does not alter the meaning of the statement: Milan have assembled a good team in a short period of time, one that is led by a few exceptionally talented players.
Few Italian clubs have three players as good in their position as the Leao-Maignan-Theo Hernandez combination. When Junior Messias and Alexis Saelemaekers left the team in the summer of 2023, Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukwueze came in to provide the team depth, particularly on the right side.
Tiemoue Bakayoko and Aster Vranckx vacated the midfield position for Sandro Tonali, while Tijjani Reijnders, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Yunus Musah were brought in for about €20 million.
The cost of the new additions has increased for the year, which is equal to one year of amortization (transfer fee divided by contract duration plus gross salaries), but it has also raised the squad’s value.
A specific plan coming from RedBird Capital and passing through Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada has led Milan to decide to place a lot of emphasis on players whose contracts expire in 2024.
For instance, Chukwueze wouldn’t have been available for €20 million if his contract had expired in 2025 or 2026. The same is true for Loftus-Cheek and Pulisic. On the market today, each of the three would be valued greater.
The same is true of Reijnders, who was observed by the scouting department and received their full approval.
Maldini and Massara’s Milan had almost completed the signing of Marko Arnautovic and were in negotiations over Domenico Berardi and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. These are not the young players that the American owner owns. Gerry Cardinale fired Maldini and placed the transfer market in the hands of Furlani and Moncada for various reasons, a long and complex discussion, but the transfer market is one of them.
Malick Thiaw could very well be the allegory. discovered by Moncada and his scouting team, signed by Maldini and Massara, and after months of adaption, launched by Pioli. He originally cost €8.5m to join with Schalke and is now worth €25m.
Theo Hernandez is now a player valued between €60 and €65 million, and Pierre Kalulu originally cost very little but has grown to be worth €18 million. Maignan, who cost €14 million, is worth €70 million. Given that he is the €100 million man, Rafael Leao merits his own debate.
