It is a deal that has every Serie A fan talking. A blockbuster deal that would see Mattia Caldara and Gonzalo Higuain move from Juventus to AC Milan, with Leonardo Bonucci returning to Juventus.
The deal would see Bonucci exchanged with Caldara, while Higuain joins Milan on loan for €18m, with a €36m option to buy.
In the world of Financial Fair Play, many fans are asking how such a deal is possible and the website Calcio e Finanza has broken down the financial details of the prospective transfer.
Both Caldara and Bonucci are being valued at around €40m, and will be part of a direct swap.
Bonucci earns around €7.5m plus bonuses at Milan, but he willing to take a €2m a year pay cut in order to return to Turin. That will see him earn less than what he made at Milan, but will see make about a €1m more than when he left Juve last summer.
Caldara, meanwhile is to earn €1.5m per season with Juventus, but his agents will push that to €2m when he joins the Diavolo.
Both Juventus and Milan are valuing Higuain at close to €55m, which represents his current value on the Bianconeri’s accounts.
When clubs sign a player, they break down the cost of the deal over the lifetime of a contract in a process called amortisation.
Since Higuain signed for €91.3m from Napoli his value depreciates by €18.26m per season, giving a value of €54.78m for the remaining three years on his contract.
That is roughly equal to the total value of the transfer, while the €18m for the loan balances out the depreciation in Higuain’s value this year.
He also earns €7.5m per season in Turin, so there will also be a gross saving of around €38m on his wages.
That will of course be partially offset by Bonucci’s arrival on lower wages, while if Pipita earns the same salary at Milan it would effectively just replace the defender’s salary on the books.
Bonucci’s current value on the Rossoneri accounts would be around €33.6m, and with his wages off the books his sale to Juve would have a positive effect of €27.5m.
Caldara’s arrival, assuming a €40m fee, a five year contract and a gross salary of €3.4m would cost €11.4m per season.
If the loan deal for Higuain is as reported, €18m will have to be paid outright for the loan, while his gross salary is €12.7m per season, so that transfer would add €30m to the Rossoneri’s outgoings.
When the deal is taken as a whole it would have a negative impact of €14.6m, which could be covered with the sales of players like Nikola Kalinic.
Milan have to be mindful of Financial Fair Play, so will need to carefully balance their incoming and outgoing players once the deal is complete.
For Juventus, meanwhile, the operation will create a significant net positive on this season’s balance sheet.
The sale of Caldara will bring a €33.4m gain up to June 30 2019, with a profit of €27.24m in total, given he arrived from Atalanta for €18m and has a book value of €12.76m.
Assuming Bonucci arrives on a €5.5m three-year contract, his gross salary this year – based on 11 months as Milan will pay his wages for July – will be €9.33m.
He will therefore add €22.66m to the balance sheet, i.e his gross salary of €28m over the contract plus €40m divided by the three years of the deal.
There will also be a saving in terms of salary though, as Higuain’s gross wages will be off the books along with Caldara’s creating saving of around €12.72m.
Pipita’s loan is equal to the €18m amortisation he would represent on the books, so for this season the Bianconeri would break even in that regard.
The total impact on the balance sheet is positive for €41.5m as long as Milan do buy Higuain outright, otherwise it falls to €23.2m.
