SERIE A: AC Milan sale officially delayed

AC Milan's goal keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma poses with the trophy after winning the Italian Super Cup final match between AC Milan and Juventus in Doha on December 23, 2016. AC Milan beat Juventus to win the Italian Super Cup in a penalty shootout, the first trophy the Rossoneri have won since 2011. / AFP PHOTO / KARIM JAAFAR

AC Milan will push to conclude the sale of the Serie A giants to a Chinese consortium “as soon as possible” after announcing a new delay yesterday.

The club’s holding company Fininvest said the sale had been postponed after failure to meet the March 3 deadline. Milan’s media tycoon owner Silvio Berlusconi agreed in August 2016 to sell the club to Sino-Europe Sports (SES) in a deal that values the Serie A giants at €740 million.

However the takeover was postponed again several days ahead of yesterday’s official announcement after it became clear the Chinese consortium, which has made a down payment of €200m, did not have the necessary funds to complete the deal by the agreed date of March 3.

Although sources told AFP in midweek that club bosses hoped to conclude the deal by the end of the month, Fininvest said it would look to have the takeover completed “as soon as possible”.