AC Milan's general manager Adriano Galliani has revealed there is a "50 percent chance" that he has succeeded in convincing Carlo Ancelotti to return to the Serie A club next season.
After holding talks with the former Real Madrid coach for the fourth time in two days, Galliani sounded optimistic that he had done enough to talk Ancelotti into accepting his offer and putting off his plans to undergo a back operation in Canada.
"Carlo has the idea of taking a year out, but I hope he will be convinced to accept Milan," Galliani told reporters in Madrid, quotes La Gazzetta dello Sport. "He will give us his final decision on Wednesday June 3.
"He's going to think about it for a few more days and he told me it is 50/50, which is a good percentage. I'll call him on Wednesday. We were in agreement on everything."
Ancelotti confirmed that he will "decide on Wednesday," adding that he has always had a good relationship with Galliani, but that he needs a few more days to consider everything.
The 55-year-old has said that he needs surgery on a back problem and if he were to be released by Real Madrid, he would fly to Canada to receive treatment and then take a one-year sabbatical.
Ancelotti's wife told Vanity Fair that the coach was intent on taking the break before returning to the game in a year's time, but Galliani's insistence appears to have worked with Ancelotti reconsidering his future.
He won the Champions League twice with the Rossoneri in an eight-year reign which ended in 2009. Milan are set to end the current season in one of their worst positions in the past three decades, out of Europe for the second straight season.
Current coach Filippo Inzaghi is expected to be relieved of his duties in the summer, although he still has a year left to run on his contract.
Former coach Clarence Seedorf is also on the club's wage bill until 2016, but president Silvio Berlusconi's daughter Barbara has said that her father is ready to splash the cash again in a bid to restore Milan to the top of the Italian game.