AC Milan face Marcus Rashford-Kyle Walker choice as Brexit means they cannot sign both
AC Milan will make a crunch decision over targeting Marcus Rashford or Kyle Walker amid a restriction on signing non-EU players in the wake of Brexit.
The Italian giants have shown concrete interest in both Premier League players but can only sign one because of Serie A rules on non-EU signings, of which Italian clubs can register two per season.
Serbian international Strahinja Pavlovic and Brazil’s Emerson Royal fill their non-EU quota for this campaign, but clubs are allowed an extra player if they are English or Albanian.
Milan have a notable English contingent already, with either Rashford or Walker potentially joining a squad that includes Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham.
Milan have held talks with Rashford’s brothers, his sole representatives, over whether a deal can be thrashed out. Manchester United would likely ask for a loan fee and for salary recovery for the 27-year-old. Rashford’s salary is believed to be in the region of £325,000-a-week, but United players face wage reductions when they are not in the Champions League, as is the case this season. It means Rashford is believed to be on around £240,000-a-week.
Milan have also shown interest in Walker, who asked Manchester City to leave the club last week and has been left out of the last two match-day squads.
It is understood that Milan are now weighing up which area of the squad to prioritise. They struggled to score in the recent home fixture against Cagliari, with Alvaro Morata scoring in the 1-1 draw. Since then, they have defeated Como which saw Rafael Leao – who played in Rashford’s left-wing role – score the winner.
In Walker’s position, Emerson’s form has been mixed since his arrival from Tottenham. They also have Davide Calabria, who is Milan club captain, but he has only started six games this term.
Telegraph Sport reported how United’s rivals are ready to pounce on January deals for Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho or Rashford as they anticipate Sir Jim Ratcliffe wanting to avoid frantic “PSR” sales on June 30 to stay within financial rules.
All 20 Premier League clubs avoided charges over profit and sustainability rules (PSR) for the 2023-24 campaign, but United’s financial losses mean they are expected to have little room for manoeuvre without Champions League football next season.
Their PSR position would be helped by selling a home-grown player generating “pure profit” after being developed by the club as a youngster rather than bought, with Rashford, Mainoo and Garnacho assets in Ruben Amorim’s squad.