Reported Liverpool target Ismael Bennacer is set to sign a new contract with a £44m release clause.
That’s according to Calciomercato, who claim that the 25-year-old will extend his deal with AC Milan until 2027. However, there is a catch for the Italians. Bennacer will reportedly keep the same exit clause that is in his current deal – £44m.
Technical director Paolo Maldini is said to be still hopeful of convincing the Algerian to increase this figure. But for now, he is reportedly yet to do so.
Despite that, an agreement between club and player is claimed to be ‘getting closer. There is said to be a slight difference in terms of wages, but this will reportedly be smoothed over with the inclusion of bonuses for Bennacer.
Exactly the news Liverpool wanted to hear
This looks like being a nice little piece of news for Liverpool. If this is true, then Bennacer’s new contract shouldn’t deter them from their pursuit of him.
To a certain degree, an extension does still protect the midfielder’s value. With 18-months currently left to run on his contract, Milan could be forced to sell Bennacer for far less than his release clause demands.
An extra three years on the deal would mean that any interested party would simply have to pay the full £44m.
Whilst not an insignificant sum, it’s also quite a realistic one for Liverpool. They have other, higher value targets right now, but still need an ‘in-between’ signing.
Someone who is not quite going to cost the £100m+ million of a Jude Bellingham or an Enzo Fernandez, but one who can still improve them in the £25m-£45m range.
Bennacer fits that mould perfectly. He has been described by Milan manager Stefano Pioli as being a ‘complete midfielder’ via Milan Reports. At twenty-five, he is coming into his prime but still has room to improve.
In many ways, he fits the bill very nicely for a Liverpool transfer. There could have been an expectation that a new contract would scupper the chances of that happening. On the contrary, it seems as though it may have no bearing at all.
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