Rocco B. Commisso: “I’m always in the game until it goes someplace else.” (FrontRowSoccer.com Photo)

By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

So, what are Rocco B. Commisso’s chances of purchasing A.C. Milan?

“I can’t say I’m still confident,” the Cosmos owner told Sky Sport Italia. “Maybe flip a coin…”

Commisso has placed a bid to purchase at least 70 percent of the Serie A club from Chinese businessman Yonghong Li , but negotiations have hit a roadblock.

Yonghong Li missed a deadline to pay back $37.6 million, so hedge fund Elliott Management has started the process to repossess his assets.

On Saturday, Forbes reported that A.C. Milan would be auctioned off. At the time, Commisso told FrontRowSoccer.com that he did not know of such a possibility.

“What’s been reported is factual. I’ve worked on this for a long time and we were very close to signing an understanding that would’ve permitted the team to go forwards with new ownership,” Commisso told Sky Sport Italia.

“I can’t say that [I’m confident I can still buy Milan]. I don’t control. I don’t control the results, I don’t control the negotiations, I’m talking to people who may be talking to other people also.”

Commisso said that he won’t give up on making a deal.

“I’m always in the game until it goes someplace else, largely because by now everyone has figured it out that of the people who have been mentioned, I am the only Italian, the only Italian immigrant, I have the money, I have the history, I played soccer for a long time and I understand the game,” he told Sky Sport Italia.”

He was a Juventus supporter for years, that hasn’t affected his bid for A.C. Milan.

“I know I was a Juventino many years ago, but Juventus don’t need my money and it’d be nice from my perspective to give back, as I did here with Columbia and the Cosmos, to give back what soccer gave me all those years,” he was quoted by Sky Sport Italia.

“I would hope that given my actions and my love of Italy, as I was born in Italy, I can bring to the table the American expertise that I have. I started with nothing, built a huge company and would like to give back some of what I learned in my 68 years.”

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.