Milan criticised for ‘amateurish’ Krösche negotiations despite €10m salary offer | OneFootball

Reports in Germany claim that Milan offered Eintracht Frankfurt director Markus Krösche a staggering salary of €10m per season for four years and a transfer budget of €700m in order to transform the Rossoneri, but this was still not enough to convince the German to move to San Siro.

BILD: Milan’s handling of Krösche negotiations were ‘amateurish’

Milan have recently learned that Krösche will not be joining the club in the role of ‘head of football’. The Eintracht Frankfurt director had been linked with a move to take over the sporting sector of the club but seems set to stay on in his current role with the Bundesliga outfit.

That is despite the fact that Milan were willing to offer Krösche €40m in salary over a four-year period, equating to €10m net per season according to reports from German outlet BILD.

A €10m-per-season salary would have been significantly higher than any of the current players in the Rossoneri squad: The likes of Rafael Leao and Mike Maignan believed to be earning somewhere in the region of €7m net per season.

BILD also claims that Milan were willing to give Krösche a budget of €700m over a four-year period to completely transform the playing staff, coaching staff and the general sporting side of the club.

MAINZ, GERMANY – NOVEMBER 13: Markus Kroesche, Manager Sports of Frankfurt prior the Bundesliga match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt at MEWA Arena on November 13, 2022 in Mainz, Germany. (Photo by Frederic Scheidemann/Getty Images)

Thursday’s report points out that there was a release clause in Krösche’s contract with Eintracht Frankfurt, believed to be worth €7m, but this would have only been valid during the winter, not the summer.

That means that Milan would have had to negotiate with Frankfurt, who reportedly set their price at €10m to free Krösche from his current contract.

In the end, the German executive decided to stay where he is, and BILD claims that part of his decision was due to the fact that he did not want to ‘let down’ a club that has treated him so well so close to the beginning of the transfer window, nor did he want to disappoint the 600 staff that work under him at the Deutsche Bank Park.

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY – JUNE 01: Sporting Director Markus Kroesche of Eintracht Frankfurt speaks to the media during a press conference on June 01, 2026 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

BILD also claims that Krösche was ‘annoyed’ at the reports that came out in the Italian press regarding his talks with Milan when an agreement had not been reached. The German outlet claims that the handling of the situation was ‘amateurish’ from such a respected and world-renowned club.