The ‘relationship’ between Youssouf Fofana and the powers that be at AC Milan proved the deciding factor in the Serie A giants landing the midfielder this summer, according to Matteo Moretto.

Fofana is on the verge of completing a transfer to the Italian giants from AS Monaco, with Milan boss Paulo Fonseca confirming the club have ‘closed out the market’ in terms of incomings with this transfer.

??? AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca: “We’ve closed out market with Youssouf Fofana. We need to focus on the outgoings now”.

“We have too many players, so we are on it”. pic.twitter.com/jyc6J3lGHP

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 16, 2024

However, it could have been very different for Fofana, who was understood to be a major target for several Premier League clubs, including Manchester United.

But in the end, it was Fofana’s relationship with AC Milan technical secretary Geoffrey Moncada — who was previously involved in French clubs Monaco and Strasbourg — that helped settle the race for the 21-time France international.

“Milan have been working very silently in the background, very hard, to secure the signing of Youssouf Fofana,” Moretto wrote for Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing.

“They were given peace of mind by the fact that Fofana has a very good relationship with Technical Secretary Geoffrey Moncada, because he has liked Fofana ever since he was working at Monaco. He wanted to sign him when he was at Strasbourg, and Monaco would go on to do so after Moncada left. The pair have a very good relationship, and Moncada knows his qualities very well.

“He said no to enquiries, they were not concrete offers, because first of all, a club will sound out a player to see if they are open to it. Thanks to that relationship, they managed to secure Fofana on a more personal level.

“When it came to the numbers, Milan had tied up a contract with Fofana months ago, due to the work of the recruitment department there. It’s a deal for four years plus further optional year, and he will earn around €3m net per year. Giorgio Furlani worked to close the negotiations with Monaco, trying to get the best deal for Milan, and they end they sealed the deal for €23m plus €2m in variables.

“It was a long signing, that seemed almost impossible at the start, because they knew that the demands of Monaco and the player’s agents were high, but they worked a lot on the deal, and the relationships are what got the deal over the line in the end.”

As confirmed by Fonseca, Fofana’s arrival will round off what has been a busy summer for 2023/24 Serie A runners-up AC Milan, who have also signed Strahinja Pavlovic, Emerson Royal, Alvaro Morata and Alex Jimenez.