Alessio Romagnoli has agreed to take a pay cut from his AC Milan salary to reject a recent approach from Newcastle United and seal a free transfer to Lazio at the end of the season.
That’s according to Calciomercato, who report the defender will leave the San Siro and join his favourite club this summer. The Biancocelesti supporter is a free agent from June after failing to agree to new terms with the Rossoneri to keep him at the club he joined in 2015.
A move to Lazio will see Romagnoli cross the fierce Rome divide, as well, having started his career at Roma. The 27-year-old joined the Giallorossi as a youth but only played 14 senior games with the club. AC Milan later paid €25m (£20.5m) after a year on loan at Sampdoria.
But the 12-cap Azzurri enforcer’s time in red-and-black looks set to end in June after failing to agree new terms. Instead, Romagnoli appears set for Lazio, as the AC Milan centre-back and his representative held a summit with Lazio on Friday to set the terms for his contract.
Romagnoli’s willingness to return to Rome was decisive in the Biancocelesti and his agent agreeing to the conditions. The defender will pen a five-year contract worth €3m-a-season (£48k-a/w), plus €500k (£414k) in easy to reach bonuses. He will sign the deal within days.
Alessio Romagnoli to snub Newcastle as AC Milan star agrees pay cut to join Lazio
Romagnoli could sign his Lazio contract after AC Milan visit the Stadio Olimpico on April 24, in a blow for Newcastle’s summer transfer plans. That’s because Calciomercato claimed at the end of March that Toon chiefs approached the Italian’s agent over moving to Tyneside.
Eddie Howe is keen to continue strengthening his centre-half options this off-season after Dan Burn’s successful January arrival. Romagnoli could have been a stellar pick up in a free transfer when the likely Lazio-bound Newcastle target’s contract at AC Milan ends in June.
But he has agreed to take a pay cut for his favourite club over the Toon and at a lesser fee than the Rossoneri offered months ago. Gazzetta dello Sport claimed in November that AC Milan asked to reduce their captain’s €6m-a-season (£95k-a/w) wage to €3.5m (£56k-a/w).
Yet his wish to finally represent his boyhood side will see Romagnoli snub Newcastle and a new contract at AC Milan, with the centre-half Rossoneri technical director and icon Paolo Maldini has called ‘one of the best ever’ now preferring to join Lazio in a free transfer.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
