Inter Milan sell Stankovic and Buchanan

Inter Milan have officially announced the sale of Aleksandar Stankovic and Tajon Buchanan to Club Brugge and Villarreal.

19-year-old Stankovic was sold for a reported fee of €10 million, with an option to buy back for €22 million in 2026 and €25 million in 2027.

Negotiations between the two clubs have been ongoing for several weeks regarding the format and terms of the buy-back option.

Inter achieved their aim to keep control of the midfielder’s future by rejecting the proposal to have a €28m clause included in the contract. They have made it a relatively low sum to ensure that he can be brought back to the club if needed.

 Football Italia transfer expert Alfredo Pedullà reported that the deal was eventually struck with an option allowing Inter to bring Stankovic back for €22m in 2026 and a higher figure of €25m if activated in June 2027.

The midfielder is the son of former Inter star Dejan. He and his brother Filip, who is a goalkeeper with Venezia through the Inter youth academy.

In a related development, Villarreal will soon complete the signing of a Canadian international from Inter for €9m plus a cut of the future fee.

Although he had been in talks with Sassuolo, Sport Mediaset reported that the two clubs have reached an agreement on a deal worth €9m with add-ons.

He had a chance to remain within Serie A as newly promoted Sassuolo wanted him, but Villarreal won the battle because he had already played there in the last six months on loan.

Buchanan couldn’t make his mark with the Nerazzurri following the €7.3m move from Club Brugge in January 2024 due to a serious injury after fracturing his leg on international duty with Canada in July 2024. This restricted him to only 17 competitive appearances for Inter, with one goal scored.

During his short stint with the yellow submarine in January 2025, he contributed one goal with two assists in 13 games.