Milan have reportedly begun talks with Mike Maignan over a contract extension, with the goalkeeper asking between €8-10 million for his new contract. The Frenchman’s existing deal with the Rossoneri doesn’t end until 2026, but Milan are keen to organise a contract extension to keep him at the club for the foreseeable future.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write that ‘the strongest goalkeeper in Italy’ has a contract expiring in 2026, but he is the last of the Milanese ‘big players’ to have to renew. The dialogue between Milan and Maignan’s agents has begun, write Gazzetta, and there are two aspects in this story that at the beginning of September seem more important than others:
“One is a question of priorities: Maignan wants to win and he puts this in front of everyone. Mike wants to play in a top competitive team and the great start to the season is the best boost for Milan. If the team is fighting to win the league and Champions League, Maignan is a happy man. The second question is more typically economic. Maignan’s agents have made an initial demand of €8-10 million per season, in line with the best goalkeepers in the world, a category to which Mike belongs.
In short, we are at the first step of a negotiation that inevitably risks being long. There is no tension, just an ongoing dialogue and a decision that Milan will have to make in the coming months. The team’s highest-paid player at the moment is Rafa Leao with his complex contract, which starts at €5 million – plus signing bonus – and is enriched with progressive bonuses intended to be triggered regularly, even during the year, not only at the end of the season. Leao is likely to earn €6.5-7 million per league, a decision taken after the most complex negotiation in recent years. Not at AC Milan, in Italy.
Milan in the Maldini-Massara era has made a clear choice: it has renewed all its most important players. In February 2022 it started by signing Theo Hernandez, in that summer it extended with Fikayo Tomori, in November they shook hands with Pierre Kalulu and in January it reached an agreement with Bennacer. Not forgetting the salary adjustment granted to Sandro Tonali, later cancelled by a transfer to Newcastle. The summer of market upheavals has changed the structure of the team and raised the cost of the squad – the sum of players’ wages and amortisation for players’ registrations – in a growth that certainly seems sustainable. It will now be up to RedBird to figure out whether, how much and how to continue in this direction.
Maignan in the current Milan squad is obviously a key player. One of three top level players, like Rafa Leao and Theo Hernandez among the world’s top players in their role. Maignan arrived at AC Milan in 2021 and immediately won the Scudetto with his very modern interpretation of the role: very strong in goal, more so with his feet. The second year was more complex – those calf injuries…. – but MM confirmed himself as a leader by example, as well as a decisive, strong player. On this, no one disputes.”
