Moncada admits Milan made attempts for Bellingham and Vinicius Jr: “We couldn’t compete” | OneFootball

It is rare for Geoffrey Moncada to communicate much about ongoing things at AC Milan, but today, it has come to light that he made attempts for two stars before they moved to Real Madrid.

The mercato is often difficult in many ways, whether due to planning, finances, registration or a mix of all three. Then comes the other big difficulty – everyone else, and this is often the case with younger players.

In recent years, the value of Under-21 players has soared with clubs more willing to invest in potential now than they may have been in years gone, and Real Madrid have been prolific with this, often landing the most-hyped young talents on the planet.

Regardless of interest from elsewhere, Los Blancos have normally always got the better of others if they hold the same interest in a player as another club, and Moncada revealed that Milan have been a victim of this to Harvard Business School, as Milan News relays.

On his role as the Technical Director…

“The technical director is the link between the coach, the players and the rest of the sporting side on the one hand, and the commercial side on the other. I answer to Giorgio [Furlani] and talk to him every day, several times a day.

“I try to share as much information as possible. How are the players? What do we need for the future? Which contracts do we need to change? What can we improve in the medical department or the youth sector?

“We have a team of ten scouts working with us: five are in Italy and five abroad, and we have data scientists at Casa Milan who help us find players with data.”

On the calls with Billy Beane every Monday…

“He asks us questions, gives us ideas and helps us find good players with data from Zelus [player data analysis company] but the final decision on a player is never based on numbers alone.”

On the ideal profiles for Milan and the Reijnders example…

“We are taking calculated risks with young players rather than buying big names with high salaries. You may not have immediate success this way, but you build for the long term. Reijnders played in the Dutch league and we were the only ones to bet on him. You ask yourself: he’s a great player-why doesn’t anyone want him?

“We managed to get him for a great price. And now he is a starter for us and plays for his national team.”

On other faded profiles…

“We tried to sign [then 17-year-old] Vinicius Jr. and [then 20-year-old] Jude Bellingham, but we couldn’t compete with Real Madrid. We had to accept that. We have brought great players to the club in recent years, and as a former scout I see it as a personal challenge to take underrated players and make them perform at the highest level.”