AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi says he has turned down bids for Gianluigi Donnarumma and other players as he keeps the option open to build a young, Italian side should a proposed deal to sell the club to Chinese investors fall through.
Donnarumma has attracted the attention of many of Europe's top clubs since breaking into the Italy national team at the age of 17, having debuted for Milan when he was just 16 and remained their first-choice goalkeeper ever since.
Chelsea are among the clubs reportedly keen on signing Italy's youngest ever goalkeeper, but Berlusconi has already rejected bids.
"We've had offers for Donnarumma and for [Mattia] De Sciglio and [Alessio] Romagnoli, but it was easy for us to say no because these are the young players Milan want to build a successful future around," Berlusconi told Mediaset.
Berlusconi's 30-year ownership of the Rossoneri is due to come to an end on Dec. 13 -- the date set by a consortium of Chinese investors for all the paperwork to be signed and the transaction to go through.
However, more and more doubts are being raised about whether the consortium will find the required funds to complete the deal.
Berlusconi has allayed those fears by saying he would be willing to give his consent to a one-month extension, should the proposed new owners not have all the paperwork drawn up in time.
"I know what Chinese bureaucracy is like and I know that you need a long time to obtain authorisations," Berlusconi said. "I've spoken with the directors of Fininvest [nominal owners of Milan] and if the date set for the conclusion of the deal is not manageable due to these authorisations and if there is proof from the banks that the outstanding money exists, we could give them another month, month-and-a-half.
"I've met with the main subject of this consortium and he has given me the absolute impression that he is a serious, intelligent, informed person who is a lifelong Milan fan. There are 243 million fans of Milan in China and we have been given the names of the other people who will be part of the consortium and from the information we have received from the banks, they seem to be reliable."
Nevertheless, should the deal not go through, Berlusconi says he would be more than happy to keep hold of the club.
"We have won 28 trophies and Milan became the most successful club in the world in terms of titles up to two years ago," he said. "In recent years, I've had to deal with all my [legal] processes and I've not been able to follow the team as I always did, and now that money from oil has entered into football, the world of football has changed.
"People are paying €94 million for a player who is not even young, so faced with these sums I was forced, painfully, to give up Milan because I was no longer capable of spending the sums necessary to take Milan back to a competitive level, or to the zenith of international football.
"I first looked for other Italians who could form a consortium but I couldn't find them, so I tried to see if I could seek a different share distribution like Real Madrid and Barcelona have, but it wasn't possible so I had to turn to foreign investors.
"These Chinese arrived and the deal is due to go through on Dec. 13, it's just they are struggling to get authorisations from the Chinese government. But they assure me that it is just a question of time so of course we are willing to give them another month or a month-and-a-half.
"I hope that Milan will get from these people the investment needed to make them No. 1 in the world again. Milan is a never-ending fairy tale. I've suffered a great deal because I am the Rossoneri's No. 1 fan and Milan is part of my personal life -- my dad used to come home every evening and before asking me about my school work, he would talk to me about Milan.
"He took me to the stadium every Sunday and they didn't have that good a team back then so I would cry when they lost and my dad would say: 'we'll make up for it, you'll see.' When Milan risked relegation to Serie B, I felt a duty within me to become president of Milan by buying 100 percent of their shares.
"To let the club go now is a huge sacrifice of course and if these Chinese are not able to conclude the negotiations, well we can't leave the club without an owner so I would have to get involved again, although I would have a completely different programme. I have a team in mind: a new Milan made up of all Italian players who are very, very young. I can tell you one big secret, I also hope [that Milan remain mine]."