Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister and owner of AC Milan, says Andrea Pirlo will spend the rest of his career at the club and will not be joining former manger Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea.
"Andrea Pirlo has been taken off the market. He'll stay with us and finish his career at Milan," said Berlusconi after a meeting with new coach Leonardo and chief executive Adriano Galliani.
Chelsea made a bid for Pirlo after Milan indicated they would consider offers for the Italian international, a cornerstone of Ancelotti's team that won the 2003 and 2007 Champions League titles.
Chelsea were understood to be willing to improve their offer after an initial bid of €8 million, plus Peruvian forward Claudio Pizarro, was turned down.
But Berlusconi now seems intent on keeping hold of Milan's main creative force, having sold Brazil playmaker Kaka to Real Madrid.
"You know that Chelsea made a major offer for our Andrea Pirlo. We spoke to the player and decided to grant Leonardo's request that we keep Pirlo," said Berlusconi.
He added that money will be found to bolster the squad, with the purchase of a striker the top priority.
"Galliani will have the funds necessary to buy a great goalscorer immediately to flank the strikers already in the squad," said Berlusconi.
Milan are expected to renew their efforts to lure Brazilian Luis Fabiano from Sevilla, while Real Madrid's Dutch international striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Pizarro are also targets, according to reports.
Kaka's departure caused dismay among Milan fans and the fact the club's top signing of the close season is American defender Oguchi Onyewu, who arrived as a free agent from Standard Liege, has done little to allay their concerns.
No comments:
Post a Comment