Capital gains and clear wills: Solution obvious for Abraham-Saelemaekers [Bonus Article]

Roma want Saelemaekers and Milan (seemingly) want Abraham, so what is the best solution? From capital gains to wasting no time, the answer is obvious for both clubs.

The summer mercato is fast approaching and given his performances lately, Tammy Abraham has been increasingly linked with a permanent move to AC Milan. At the same time, Roma have publicly confirmed their intention to sign Alexis Saelemaekers on a permanent basis from the Rossoneri. The question, then, is what solution would benefit both parties the most in this case.

At the start of the season, it was reported by various sources that Milan and Roma had a gentleman’s agreement of sorts, allowing them both to negotiate permanent deals for the duo in the summer. After all, the loan swap was completed on deadline day and there wasn’t enough time to insert buy-back clauses, so it made sense to delay those talks until after the season.

Of course, as we have seen many times before, a gentleman’s agreement of this type doesn’t necessarily mean anything. We are still talking about dry loans, so as soon as a player doesn’t live up to the expectations, things immediately get tricky. That certainly seemed to be the case just a few months ago, with Abraham struggling to have a proper impact, but the Englishman has responded in style lately.

And so, here we are, less than three months before the summer mercato will officially commence. It’s undoubtedly the case that the season finale could play a part in the decision-making still, but recent reports - as well as confirmations from the clubs - suggest that there will soon be a meeting to discuss the duo. The big question, as said, is which solution will suit all parties. Let’s take a look…

What we know so far

This morning, Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Milan are starting to think about a permanent contract for Abraham. Because despite a season with evident ups and downs, including some good chances missed, the striker scored his 10th goal of the season in the 2-2 draw against Fiorentina. He also bagged his 7th assist at the weekend with a lovely flick for Theo Hernandez.

An important part of the story is Milan’s plan for the future, as even though major changes are expected in the summer, reinforcements for the attack aren’t exactly a priority. Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic have shown their class this season, albeit suffering from some poor performances, while a significant amount was paid for Santiago Gimenez in the January mercato.

Furthermore, Luka Jovic has delivered when given the chance and represents a low-cost opportunity for the Rossoneri, with only a contract to renew (and the salary was lowered already ahead of this season). Abraham, as such, would be the final piece of the puzzle for an attack that must be considered good enough for a club like Milan, even if consistency is everything in football.

You could probably find other strikers in and around the €25m mark, which is reported to be Abraham’s price tag, but that would mean having to experience yet another acclimatisation period. Not to mention that the Englishman has shown his passion and desire for the club this season, which is a characteristic that the Rossoneri shouldn’t get rid of (on the contrary, they need more of it!).

Moving on to Saelemaekers, his numbers are actually quite impressive for a winger/wide midfielder with 6 goals and 6 assists this season. An ankle surgery at the start of the season also kept him on the sidelines for 14 games, so the aforementioned numbers could have been even better without the bad luck. Therefore, it’s no surprise that Roma want to keep him.

“Saelemaekers is happy in Rome and we are happy with him, we want to keep him,” the Giallorossi’s technical director Florent Ghisolfi stated ahead of Roma’s game against Lazio on Sunday evening. A clear message on the matter, which is rather refreshing and hopefully means the clubs will start negotiations well in advance. Or rather, as soon as Milan have a new sporting director.

Polar opposites on the accounts

The most important thing to look at, as always when it comes to the transfers, is the value of the players on the accounts. As most of you will have figured out already, we are talking about polar opposites in this case as Saelemaekers joined Milan from Anderlecht, then a relatively unknown player, while Abraham joined Roma after bagging 30 goals (in total) for Chelsea’s first team.