AC Milan sign teenage Brazilian goalkeeper as Aquilani is made to wait

AC Milan have confirmed the signing of Brazil Under-20 goalkeeper Gabriel Ferreira from Brazilian club Cruzeiro. The 19-year-old is expected to play as the third choice goalkeeper behind Christian Abbiati and Marco Amelia. A statement on the club’s website read:

Gabriel will be registered in the Lega Serie A in the next few weeks and will join the team in pre-season training on July 9.

Ferreira started his career in the club’s youth team before progressing to the senior squad. He was a part of Brazil’s U-20 World Cup winning squad that lifted the cup in 2011.

Gabriel will be the third addition to the Milan squad this summer following the arrival of Riccardo Montolivo from Fiorentina and Bakaye Traore from Nancy.

Meanwhile, AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani says the club had been chasing new signing Riccardo Montolivo for the last twenty years! Galliani said:

When Montolivo was just seven, we understood that he would become a great player. However, his parents decided against a move to Milan in favour of allowing him to grow in the Atalanta youth ranks.

Galliani is also waiting for a decision from veterans Clarence Seedorf and Mathieu Flamini regarding a contract extension before persuading Liverpool to make Aquilani’s deal permanent. Franco Zavaglia, Aquilani’s agent, told ItaSportPress:

Nothing is certain at the moment. It is by no means certain that Milan will not decide to keep him.