Jackson Martinez will join AC Milan after picking the Italian club, confirms Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa. Martinez is set for a medical next week after Milan agreed to pay his €35m release clause.
“Jackson Martinez has chosen Milan,” Pinto da Costa told Porto Canal. “Before going on holiday Jackson announced he wanted to leave. The €35m clause is not up for debate and must be paid. I learned just now that Martinez has chosen Milan. This is what he wants, the destination is irrelevant as far as I am concerned. I want him to be happy.”
Recent reports have suggested that the striker might be interested in a move away from Portugal, and Arsenal were considered to be the first in line to sign him. Arsene Wenger was keen to bring the 28-year old Colombian to London to strengthen their forward line.
“He has top physical strengths. Hugely efficient, he is the kind of player who can make room for himself in the box,” Wenger said in February. “He could play in the Premier League because he has the body to make the difference. He uses it in a very intelligent way. He has a very short back lift and he’s a very good finisher. He’s on the list of many clubs, you know that.”
Milan might consider themselves very lucky to sign a striker of Martinez’s ability. Porto signed Martinez from Chiaspas in 2012, and he repaid them by scoring 92 goals in just 132 games for them, and was the top league goal scorer in each of his three seasons in Portugal.
The player’s agent, Luiz Enrique Pompeo said he had been working on a four-year deal with Milan general manager Adriano Galliani.
Martinez is currently on international duty in Chile ahead of Colombia’s Copa America opener against Venezuela on Sunday.
