03/06/2001

£15M INZAGHI EYES MILAN MOVE

Filippo Inzaghi has admitted that joining AC Milan would be his "first choice" if he left Juventus. The Italy forward was speaking after Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani revealed that he wanted to sign the £15 million-rated star. "He is a great player. For sure he could join Milan," he said.

Inzaghi has been left out of the Juve starting line-up in recent weeks due to the good form of David Trezeguet, and with Alessandro Del Piero back to his best, he may be tempted to leave Turin in the summer.

And Inzaghi said on Sunday that if he did walk out on the Stadio dell Alpi this summer, there was only one place he wanted to go. "I am very flattered by Milan's interest. It's important to know that Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani appreciate me, and that through the years their confidence in me has not changed."

"That is why, if I had to move clubs, Milan would be my first choice."

"I have been treated very well at Juventus and have had four wonderful years here. But I am still under contract here so it is not the right time to discuss my future, And with Juventus still in the race for the Scudetto, it would be best to speak about this after the season."

Galliani, who is busy preparing a massive revamp of the Rossoneri squad, said: "He hasn't said that he wants to leave Juventus, but if they would sell Inzaghi then I'm sure he'd be interested in Milan. At the moment we are bargaining about Inzaghi.

"But even if we finish the summer without Inzaghi, I think our supporters can be happy with the squad we have and be hopeful for next season."

The San Siro giants have already snapped up Alaves pair Javi Moreno and Cosmin Contra for next season as they look to bounce back from a poor campaign in which they failed to qualify for the Champions' League.

They have also agreed deals with Atalanta to bring Massimo Donati and Christian Zenoni to Milan in the summer.

Galliani added: "We have bought Donati and Zenoni from Atalanta, Contra and Javi Moreno from Alaves, and we bought Kakha Kaladze during this season.

"So we will only move for an extraordinary player now. We have spent a lot of money so far, and although we are sure we have picked up bargains in these four players, we will only pay more for a great player."

It is believed this 'great' player could well be Inzaghi, who was linked with a move to Real Madrid last month, but the rumours were quickly dismissed by Real president Florentino Perez.

Galliani, meanwhile, rejected reports that the club may sell highly-rated goalkeeper Christian Abbiati. "We will not, for any reason, sell Abbiati," he said.

"He is our future keeper so there's no point writing about a possible swap deal with Lilian Thuram."

When asked about the club's plans for out-of-form German international Oliver Bierhoff, the vice-president added: "He wants to play a lot to convince the national team to call him up for the World Cup. If he want to stay we are happy to let him do so."

Galliani confirmed that young striker Luca Saudati will return from his loan spell at Perugia at the end of the season, as will Mohammed Aliyu from Salernitana.

[onefootball.com]