Serie A Transfer News: Andre Silva close to joining Monaco from AC Milan
What's the story?
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has reported that AC Milan striker Andre Silva has agreed personal terms with Monaco. The former French champions are in talks with Milan, and a deal is expected to be completed soon.
In case you didn't know...
The Portugal international is a product of Porto's famous youth academy. He initially broke into their first team in the 2015/16 season, before becoming a regular the following year.
As part of a huge spending spree by AC Milan in 2017, Silva arrived in the Serie A for a reported fee of €38 million and was expected to help lead the club back to the heights that it once occupied.
However, the 23-year-old was very disappointing in his debut season, making only 24 league appearances and scoring just 2 goals.
He was shipped out to La Liga side Sevilla on loan at the start of last season and was only marginally better for the Spaniards.
His poor club performances were also reflected in his international call-ups from Portugal, with younger players like Joao Felix being preferred over him by manager Fernando Santos.
Milan are now open to letting him leave, and Monaco look set to snap him up for a fee of around €30 million.
The heart of the matter...
In contrast to the extraordinary highs of their 2016/17 league winning campaign, Monaco endured a horrifying 2018/19 season.
They escaped relegation by the thinnest of margins (2 points) and sacked head coach Leonardo Jardim to appoint Thierry Henry. That didn't go well either, and Jardim was eventually reappointed in January.
Monaco are a bit light in the centre-forward department currently, with Radamel Falcao and Stevan Jovetic being the only experienced players. Falcao is well into his 30's though, and Jovetic is far from the player he once was at Manchester City and Inter Milan.
Monaco and Silva will be hoping that this move could benefit both parties. At the age of 23, Silva still has a chance to resurrect his career and lead the French club's attack going into the new season and beyond.
What's next?
AC Milan are now anxious to sell both Silva and Patrick Cutrone in an effort to balance their books - the Italians were recently banned from participating in next season's Europa League due to FFP breaches.
The sales will also potentially fund a move for Atletico Madrid's €50 million rated Angel Correa.