Milan Lining up €20M Move for Andrea Bertolacci

Well, so much for having time to digest the Lukaku rumors, no matter how farfetched they may have been. After wrapping up the remaining 50% of Andrea Bertolacci's contract earlier this week, it now seems like Roma are going the Orange County real estate route and flipping this asset for a quick profit rather than accruing and enjoying the equity on the Bertolacci estate, which is quite lovely, freeway adjacent and has great schools nearby.

Word has literally just broken that AC Milan and AS Roma are in advanced talks for a €20m deal for the young Italian international. With Sky Sport Italia and La Gazzetta dello Sport teaming upon this rumor, it holds a bit more weight than a solo-sourced rumor. GDS takes it a step further and reports that wages will fall somewhere between €1.5 and €2m, which is good work if you can get it.

I'm not quite certain what to think about this potential move. In some ways it smacks of the Marquinhos deal; simply too much to pass on, particularly for such a young player, while the part of me that desperately wants Roma to actually reap rewards from their youth academy is a bit perturbed, but we've already discussed that angle at length this summer.

While we await an official word from either club, we're left to wonder if this was actually a pre-arranged deal, one possibly aimed at financing further deals from Roma's end, or if Walter Sabatini and Rudi Garcia had a sudden change of heart, after all, even under ideal circumstances, Bertolacci is the fourth midfielder.

Either way, goodbye Berto, we hardly knew thee.