Overview
- AC Milan exercised its buy-back for Francesco Camarda on June 18 and confirmed he will return to the club from Lecce on July 1, 2026.
- US Lecce had activated a purchase option that made Camarda their player and opened a Milan counter-window running from June 18 to June 20.
- Published accounts differ on the money involved with one report saying Milan paid just over €500,000 to trigger the buy-back while another describes Lecce’s purchase at about €3 million and a Milan buy-back near €4 million.
- Camarda is an 18-year-old centre-forward who scored an extraordinary number of goals at Milan’s youth levels and made 33 Serie A appearances after turning 18 in March, which explains why Milan built buy-back protections into the loan deal.
- The transaction highlights a growing transfer practice where clubs loan young players with buy and buy-back clauses so they gain first-team experience without losing long-term rights, a model that affects how clubs value and develop elite prospects.