Yunus Musah is the second Yank to join AC Milan in this transfer window, as he will join fellow USMNT compatriot Christin Pulisic at the legendary Italia club on a permanent transfer.
The Rossoneri confirmed the move on Friday night, ending months of flirtation and negotiation with his former club Valencia CF.
“AC Milan is pleased to announce that it has acquired outright the sports performance of footballer Yunus Musah,” the team stated in a press release. “The US midfielder has signed a contract with the Rossoneri club until June 30, 2028.”
The five-year contract is scheduled to keep him at the club one year longer than his American teammate Pulisic, who is signed through 2027, giving the pair several years to become a dangerous on-field tandem.
Rumors suggested that the eventual fee paid to Valencia for the 20-year-old was approximately €20M, an amount which was reduced after the player reportedly pushed for the move, singling out Milan as the only destination to which he would agree.
The move puts the New York-born midfielder into one of Italy’s top teams, who will also compete in the Champions League group stage following their fourth-place finish in Serie A in the previous season.
They also reached the semifinal of the Champions League last season, before being knocked out by city rivals Inter by a 3-0 margin.
This also brings the current total of Americans in Serie A’s northern-Italian clubs to four, with Weston McKennie and Tim Weah competing several hundred miles west in Turin with Juventus.
“I’m over the moon,” Musah stated through Milan’s press outlet following the signing. “Today my mouth is starting to hurt from all the smiling.”
“I’ll need to take time to understand what’s happened,” he continued, adding “I’m just so happy.”
The former Arsenal youth product has prior connections in Italy, having spent several years growing up in the northwestern part of the country near Treviso and having spent several years in the youth program of local club Giorgione Calcio.
His former coach at Valencia, Gennaro Gattuso, is a Milan legend, having spent more than a decade at the club between 1999 and 2012, having won numerous domestic and international trophies.
The Rossoneri are still in their preseason and will begin the 2023-24 Serie A season on Monday, August 21, with a visit to Bologna.
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