AC Milan Beat Everton to M’Baye Niang Signature

Monday, 27th August, 2012

AC Milan have beaten Everton to the signature of Caen striker M’Baye Niang.

According to Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport, Rossoneri vice-president Adriano Galliani stepped up his pursuit of the 17-year-old after Caen rejected Milan’s first proposal, which was for a loan with a purchase option, and Everton moved into pole position in the race.

Galliani quickly travelled to meet with Niang’s agent Oscar Damiani and afterwards headed on to Caen to thrash out a deal.

And Galliani achieved a breakthrough which will see Milan pay a basic €1.7M to the Normans for the young gem, with further bonuses set to take the final total above €3M.

Niang appeared 23 times for Caen in Ligue 1 last season, but was unable to help the club avoid relegation to the French second tier.

The 17-year-old impressed nevertheless though and spent time on trial at Arsenal this summer, though no deal was forthcoming between the two clubs.

Niang has been compared with a young Thierry Henry and Milan are known to rate the striker extremely highly.