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Milan set for Ivanovic crunch talks
Wednesday 13 August, 2008
Today could be the day that Milan complete a swoop for Chelsea’s Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic.

The Rossoneri are looking to swell their defensive ranks and have set their sights on the 24-year-old stopper.

Ivanovic has been told that he doesn’t feature in Luiz Felipe Scolari’s first-team plans for the coming campaign and has grown frustrated at his inactivity in West London since arriving in January from Lokomotiv Moscow.

The most likely solution is a loan deal, which will allow Milan to add some depth to their back line for the season and prevent Chelsea from losing a possible star of the future.

The world champions are likely to be offered the chance to make the deal permanent this time next year for a fee of around £10m.

Diavolo transfer guru Ariedo Braida is expected in London within the next few hours to meet with Ivanovic’s agent Marko Naletilic and Chelsea chief Peter Kenyon.

A number of details still have to be ironed out, but a deal could be completed within the working day.

channel4

[Tennie]

Ivanovic won't go to Milan, at least not in the short term: negotiations betwen the Rossoneri and Chelsea were abruptly interrupted in the conclusive phase due to the question of the end of the loan, fixed for next June. The English asked for the obligatory sale of the player at a 12 million value. The Milanisti refused. For now, everything's off.

Here's the original Italian: Ivanovic non andrà al Milan, o perlomeno ciò non succederà in tempi brevissimi: la trattativa tra la società rossonera e il Chelsea si è bruscamente interrotta nella sua fase conclusiva a causa della questione sulla fine del prestito, fissata per il prossimo giugno. Gli inglesi hanno infatti chiesto l'obbligatorietà del riscatto del giocatore, il cui cartellino è valutato 12 milioni. I dirigenti milanisti si sono rifiutati: per ora, tutto fermo.

[GrinReaper]

Ivanovic won't go to Milan, at least not in the short term: negotiations betwen the Rossoneri and Chelsea were abruptly interrupted in the conclusive phase due to the question of the end of the loan, fixed for next June. The English asked for the obligatory sale of the player at a 12 million value. The Milanisti refused. For now, everything's off.

Goal.com reports this as the other way around:

Sportmediaset claims The Blues are not willing to give Milan the right to buy the player on a permanent basis and thus everything has gone up in smoke as the Rossoneri wanted the rights as part of the loan move.

Il Diavolo’s directors have now pulled out as a result and it seems as if they will not return for Ivanovic unless they have the right to take him on permanently.

Milan were ready to give Chelsea €2m up front and then a further €10m next year for the defender but the English club do not want to lose their player, a €13m investment in January, and thus the move has broken down.

Conflicting reports, so, I don't know what to believe. But, I guess if both the sources say the move is off, so it must be off (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)