Shanghai

IT was over lunch at his villa outside Milan with soccer "super-agent" Jorge Mendes that Italian tycoon Silvio Berlusconi realised an unpleasant truth: His storeyed club, AC Milan, needed cash, and plenty of it.

Mr Mendes, a source familiar with the matter said, was discussing the potential sale of Colombian star James Rodriguez from Real Madrid for 85 million euros (S$128 million) - cash that loss-making and debt-burdened AC Milan simply did not have.