Milan Boss Gennaro Gattuso Claims Club Will Sign 'Important Midfielder' Despite Impending FFP Action

Milan manager Gennaro Gattuso has claimed that he will sign a top quality midfielder this summer, despite the club preparing to be hit by Financial Fair Play sanctions following overspending in last season's transfer window.

Discussing his hopes for the summer, via Football Italia, the former Italian international spoke optimistically about his chances of signing a new recruit, stating: "Fortunately the season doesn’t start tomorrow, we have time. Now we need to see what UEFA decide, but we’re not stuck, even if this month it might seem that way.

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“It’s not a secret, we’ll definitely sign an important player in midfield and, if possible, we have to do something up-front to offer an alternative to Suso. If we want to play 4-3-3 we have (Hakan) Calhanoglu and (Fabio) Borini on the left, but Suso doesn’t have a backup. Obviously it’s not nice to live with uncertainty, but right now we have to be calm and wait for what UEFA decide.

After a nightmare start to the 2017/18 campaign, Milan managed to stabilise, and ended up finishing sixth in the league table - securing a Europa League spot for next season. However, the club could be booted out of the competition, should their breach of FFP be deemed serious enough to warrant a more severe penalty than a fine.

I Rossoneri certainly went to town in the transfer market summer, bringing in a host of new signings in an attempt to challenge for the league title. The likes of Italian icon Leonardo Bonucci, André Silva and Andrea Conti all joined the club, as their spending saw the club make a net loss of around €160m.

Having failed to qualify for the Champions League, Milan have been unable to recoup their losses through participation in the lucrative European competition, and will be left to sweat over their fate. It is unclear who the midfielder Gattuso is alluding to is, but it is hard to imagine a top quality player in this position will join with the club in such financial difficulty.

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Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly been dealt a blow in their pursuit of I Rosoneri midfielder Franck Kessié, as the Ivory Coast international is believed to be edging closer to signing a new five year deal at the club. The box-to-box midfielder is one of the club's prize assets, and will be integral to their push for Champions League qualification next season.