Cagliari striker David Suazo has moved to AC Milan having
previously agreed to join rivals Inter, the European champions said
on Tuesday.
"The Honduran striker will wear the shirt of Milan next season,"
a statement said on Milan's Web site (www.acmilan.com). "The
transfer from Cagliari to the Rossoneri went ahead after
negotiations during the night."
No financial details of the deal were announced but media said
he had cost more than 14 million euros ($19 million).
Cagliari President Massimo Cellino said last Wednesday that
Inter had made a great buy in purchasing Suazo although the Italian
champions never announced his signature.
The 27-year-old scored 14 league goals last season having
developed into one of the most dangerous strikers in Italy.
In the 2005-06 season he scored 22 Serie A goals for Cagliari,
breaking the club record of 21 league goals in a season that former
Italy international Gigi Riva set in 1970.
At the Italian Football Oscars in January this year, he shared
the award for best foreign player in Serie A with AC Milan's
Brazilian playmaker Kaka.
The transfer is sure to fuel a simmering feud between the two
Milan clubs, whose rivalry was intensified by Inter's league title
and AC Milan's Champions League triumph last season.
Milan, who struggled for goals early on last season and brought
in Ronaldo from Real Madrid in January, had said their main
transfer target was Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o.
"It is very probable that Eto'o will not come," Milan vice
president Adriano Galliani told the club's Web site.
"There has been no intention to spite Inter. We followed Suazo
even last year. Cellino said that negotiations with Inter were over
therefore we started and concluded new talks."
(China Daily via Reuters June 20, 2007)