Adriano Galliani, the AC Milan vice-president has revealed that the club rejected an offer of “more than €30 million” for Italian international and their striker Stephan El Shaarawy..
Gallliani, refused to say a name of the club, which made this offer, but according to world media, it is known that Chelsea and Manchester City were linked with the 20-year-old striker.
“What we hadn’t told anyone was that we received a very big offer for El Shaarawy, but I will never name the club involved,” he told Italy’s 7 Gold Television. “It is a very important club, though.
“I informed the player’s agent and as soon as he returned from the Confederations Cup I spoke to Stephan. We did not want to sell him, so we simply informed the lad and his family that this proposal had arrived for him.
“I asked him what he wanted to do. He said the money he had was more than sufficient, that he is a Milan fan and did not want to leave. I kissed him on the cheek and that was that.”
“We were not tempted by the offer, but we couldn’t exactly hide it from him,” Galliani added. He saw the figures, but did not want to budge. How big was the offer? More than €30 million.
“We discussed tactics for next season, as we are returning to a 4-3-2-1 system and he is happy to play as a support striker. He had a goal scoring crisis in recent months, not a physical one, but he always worked hard for the team.
“He is only 20, so some ups and downs are natural. It even happened to Edinson Cavani, who didn’t score for two months.”