“Saint-Étienne Deal for Ballo-Toure Collapses: What’s Next for Milan’s Surplus Defender?”
Milan, having added Youssouf Fofana from AS Monaco as their fourth summer signing, are now focusing on reducing their squad by selling players not in Paulo Fonseca’s plans, with Ballo-Toure being one of them.
Although Ballo-Toure, the former Monaco defender, declined a move to Besiktas this summer, a return to France seemed possible when Saint-Étienne made an acceptable offer to Milan, and the player agreed.
However, according to FootMercato, the move to Ligue 1 is now off because Ballo-Toure and Saint-Étienne couldn’t agree on his wages. The deal fell through despite both clubs having settled on a bonus-based agreement rather than a direct transfer fee, under €1 million.
Saint-Étienne has since found another left-back, Pierre Cornud, from Maccabi Haifa.