AC Milan have signed Shakhtar Donetsk striker Luiz Adriano for a bargain transfer fee of £5.5million. The Brazilian forward was tipped to leave the Donbass Arena in recent weeks and Liverpool and Arsenal were linked with the goal scorer but the striker opted for a move to San Siro.
Luiz Adriano has signed the contract that will tie him to #ACMilan until June 30, 2020! #weareacmilan pic.twitter.com/tFCuESQ5ka
— AC Milan (@acmilan) July 2, 2015
Adriano has signed a five year contract with the Rossoneri.
New manager Siniša Mihajlović is looking for reinforcements in the squad and has signed Carlos Bacca and Andrea Bertolacci already and with the arrival of the Brazilian forward, AC Milan fans will surely become optimistic about the season after the team’s disappointing performances for the last two seasons.
Luiz Adriano scored 9 goals for Shakhtar last season in Champions League. He scored only one goal less than top scorers Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. On 21 October, playing against Belarusian team BATE Borisov in the Champions League, Luiz Adriano scored five goals, becoming the second player after Lionel Messi to score five goals in a Champions League match.
Adriano’s hat-trick took eleven minutes, the third fastest ever in the competition, he scored three goals in a seven-minute span, the quickest ever, and his four first-half goals were a record for a player in the competition. With his fourth and fifth goals of the match, he overcame Andriy Vorobey to become Shakhtar’s all-time leading goal scorer with 117 goals.
With his five goals, Adriano also established himself as Shakhtar’s all-time leading goal scorer in Europe with 29 goals. He scored 9 goals for the Ukrainian club in League and 2 in Cup. He has won 6 Ukrainian Premier Leagues with Shakhtar and 4 Ukrainian Cups. He had also won Europa League with the Ukrainian giants in 2008-09. He had also won FIFA Club World Cup in 2006 during his time at Internacional. He has 4 International caps and yet to score for the Selecao.
He was surprisingly not called up by Brazil boss Dunga for the Copa America 2015. “FC Shakhtar thanks Luiz Adriano for the years he has spent in the team, for the goals scored and records set,” said the club in a statement. “We wish Luiz Adriano good luck in his new club and beautiful victories.”