On 1 September 2026 AC Milan announced that they had sent Kevin Zeroli to FC Südtirol on a temporary basis, with an option to buy him permanently. The rossoneri statement runs to three lines and does not say when the loan expires. The club taking him does say it: FC Südtirol speak of an acquisition “on a temporary basis until 30 June 2027, with an option to buy” (a titolo temporaneo fino al 30 giugno 2027, con diritto di opzione). Same deal, two official documents, the expiry date in only one of them. Every source quoted in this piece is in Italian: club statements, press conferences, federation match reports. What appears here between quotation marks is our translation, with the Italian original in brackets wherever the exact wording is what the argument turns on.
The profile at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 January 2005 in Busto Arsizio (21) |
| Position | Midfielder |
| Height, weight, foot | 176 cm, 60 kg, right (Lega Serie B) |
| At Milan | Since August 2012 (since 2010 according to Milan) |
| Current club | FC Südtirol, Serie B, shirt 18 |
| Structure | Temporary until 30 June 2027, option to buy |
| Milan contract | Until 30 June 2028 |
Three statements from the same day, written three different ways
On 1 September the Milan press office published several outgoing transfer announcements, and set side by side they show that the wording is not a matter of style. For Zeroli it writes “on a temporary basis with an option to buy him permanently” (a titolo temporaneo con diritto di opzione per l’acquisizione a titolo definitivo). For Jacopo Sardo, to Pescara, “on a temporary basis” (a titolo temporaneo) and nothing more: no option, no date. For Youssouf Fofana, to Sevilla, “on a temporary basis until 30 June 2027” (a titolo temporaneo fino al 30 giugno 2027): the date is there, the option is not.
The silence says something too: neither of the two texts gives an amount, and the holder of the option is not written down anywhere. It has to be inferred from the sentences, and it is Südtirol.
Option and obligation: who keeps the risk
An option to buy is a choice: in June 2027 Südtirol will be able to buy the player outright or not, and if they say no he goes back to Milan. An obligation, by contrast, is triggered by itself once conditions written into the contract are met: appearances, minutes, survival in the division. This is not theory. In those same days Südtirol sent Daniele Casiraghi to Ravenna and Marco Romano Frigerio to Union Brescia with wordings that tie the obligation to “specific contractual parameters being met” (al raggiungimento di specifici parametri contrattuali). For Zeroli the right is bare: no parameter appears in either statement.
Hence a reading of our own, not one from a source: with no parameters tied to appearances, no contractual threshold weighs on his minutes, whereas with a conditional obligation the incentive exists and can push in both directions. The club that lends keeps the registration and keeps the risk that in June the player comes back with no buyer, here with a year still to run: his Milan contract expires on 30 June 2028.
From Ardor to the Primavera captain’s armband
Zeroli was born in Busto Arsizio on 11 January 2005: the date comes from Südtirol at the top of their only text, and it matches the Lega profile. The Milan statement writes only his name.
His first steps were at Ardor. On his arrival at Milan the two clubs do not say the same thing: Südtirol write August 2012, while AC Milan, in the contract renewal statement of 16 April 2024, wrote “Kevin joined Milan in 2010” (Kevin è approdato al Milan nel 2010). He stayed there in any case all the way up the age groups to the Primavera, which is the under-19 side: the two labels the statements alternate between are the same team. In 2022-23 he collected 37 outings across the league, the age-group Coppa Italia and the Youth League. His senior debut came on 30 December 2023, in Serie A against Sassuolo: in the same season two more in the league, one in the Coppa Italia and 33 games in the Primavera, the side he captained.
The numbers, one by one, and who declares them
| Context | Numbers | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Milan Primavera 2022-23 | 37 appearances | Club |
| Milan Primavera 2023-24 | 33, as captain | Club |
| Serie A, Milan | 4 appearances (3 in 2023-24, 1 in 2024-25) | Lega |
| Coppa Italia, Milan | 1 appearance | Lega |
| Serie C, Milan Futuro 2024-25 | 15 appearances, 4 goals | Lega |
| Serie A, Monza 2024-25 | 8 appearances, 1 assist | Lega |
| Serie B, Monza 2025-26 | 5 appearances | Lega |
| Serie B, Juve Stabia 2025-26 | 8 appearances and 1 goal, plus 3 and 1 in the playoffs | Club |
| Youth national teams | 20: 12 under-19 with 4 goals, 6 under-20, 2 under-21 | Club, FIGC |
The twelve under-19 caps include the European Championship in Northern Ireland, with two goals in the group stage, and the qualifiers, with two more: four goals in all, as the FIGC writes. The Primavera totals are the club’s: the Lega counts one fewer per season.
On the under-21s the sources diverge, and this is the sharpest divergence in the file. The Südtirol statement dates his debut to 8 June 2026, a friendly won 1-0 against Albania at Fontanafredda. The FIGC says something else: in the match report for Montenegro against Italy 1-4 of 18 November 2025, in qualifying for the 2027 European Championship, it calls Zeroli “the debutant” (l’esordiente), on at 73 minutes for Dagasso, and six days earlier it listed him among the three players on their first call-up. 8 June is the second appearance, the one as a starter. The arithmetic works out too: 12 plus 6 plus 2 makes the 20 caps the club declares, with only one it would be 19.
What is missing, in short, is not the numbers: it is who states them. On the first part of 2024-25, split between the first team and Milan Futuro and closed inside the squad that won the Supercoppa Italiana on 6 January 2025, the South Tyrolean statement gives no figures, and it gives none on the months with Monza in Serie B. The figures are in the Lega profile: a press release chooses what to recount, a register does not.
Inside that same profile, though, there is an inconsistency: next to the correct date of birth it reads “22 years old” (22 anni), while with 11 January 2005 Zeroli has turned twenty-one. The same yardstick applies to the height it gives, 176 centimetres, which other sources do not confirm: the Italian Wikipedia gives 187.
The club taking him
Südtirol play in Serie B. After two rounds they have four points, a win against Virtus Entella and a draw at Benevento, and they sit seventh. Davide Possanzini is on the bench: the first home game after Zeroli’s arrival is Saturday 5 September at the Stadio Druso, against Catanzaro.
What kind of club it is today was set out by three executives at a press conference on 2 September, the day after the deal: chief executive Dietmar Pfeifer, sporting director Matteo Lovisa and technical director Hannes Fink. All three spoke in Italian, and the lines below are translated. Pfeifer recalled survival through the playout, and that the aim was “to make the squad younger, and that has been achieved”, but “now patience will be needed”. Lovisa put a number on the overhaul, sixteen out and eighteen in: “Our objective remains staying in the division”.
Zeroli appears in none of the three contributions: the only players named are Kofler, Brik and Schrott, and twenty-four hours after his arrival that is not a signal. The squad list published by the club, on the other hand, has already placed him: shirt number 18, among the midfielders.
What to watch
The first thing is minutes: in a crowded midfield, Zeroli is the last to arrive.
The second is the exact role. Statement and register call him a midfielder and nothing more. It was the head coach who said more a few days later: at a press conference on 4 September, speaking in Italian, Possanzini described him as “a player who can fill every role in midfield. Given his characteristics, I see him well further forward, in the attacking midfield area, but he can also play as a holding midfielder because he understands the game and the spaces”.
The third is June 2027. The option is a choice: if he plays it will be exercised or the deal will be negotiated again from scratch, if he plays little he goes back to Milan, who will still have a year of contract. For a former Primavera captain with twelve Serie A appearances, four of them in the rossoneri shirt, at twenty-two what counts will no longer be how much he promises, but where he plays.
Sources: official AC Milan and FC Südtirol statements of 1 September 2026 for the structure, the expiry date, the personal details, the career path and the appearances declared by the clubs, including the under-21 debut the federation contradicts; Milan statements on Sardo and Fofana, of 3 February 2025 on Monza and of 16 April 2024 for the contract until 2028 and for the year he entered the academy; South Tyrolean statements on Casiraghi and Frigerio. Lega Serie B profile and register, read on 4 September 2026, for measurements, preferred foot, declared age, statistics and the table. FIGC for the under-21s: match reports for Montenegro against Italy of 18 November 2025 and Italy against Albania of 8 June 2026, plus the call-up of 12 November, found through the internal search of the federation’s site, which returns 91 results for “Zeroli”. Press conferences of 2 and 4 September 2026 and the club’s official squad list for the number 18; Wikimedia Commons for the photograph. The 187 centimetres come from the Italian Wikipedia: Transfermarkt was not reachable. Every source quoted here was published in Italian, so every quotation in this piece is our translation, with the Italian original in brackets for the short passages where the exact wording carries the argument. Not available from official sources: the loan fee, the price and the conditions of the option, any buy-back clause.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of deal is Kevin Zeroli's move to FC Südtirol?
A temporary transfer with an option to buy him permanently. Both clubs write it on 1 September 2026. The AC Milan statement does not give the expiry date; the FC Südtirol one specifies that the loan runs until 30 June 2027. Neither text declares any figure, for the loan or for a possible permanent signing.
What is the difference between an option to buy and an obligation to buy?
A right is a choice: in June Südtirol will be able to buy the player outright or let him go back to Milan, and no condition forces their hand. An obligation is triggered by itself once conditions written into the contract are met, for example a certain number of appearances or survival in the division. Südtirol themselves used both formulas in the days around Zeroli's arrival, for Casiraghi and for Frigerio. The difference in incentives is a reading of ours, not a declared fact: with a bare right no contractual threshold weighs on his minutes, with an obligation conditional on appearances the incentive exists and can go both ways.
Who is Kevin Zeroli?
A midfielder born in Busto Arsizio on 11 January 2005, right footed and 176 centimetres tall according to the Lega Serie B profile, a measurement other sources do not confirm. He joined Milan's academy in August 2012 according to Südtirol, in 2010 according to an AC Milan statement of April 2024, after his first steps at Ardor. He went through every rung of the rossoneri ladder and was captain of the Primavera in the 2023-24 season.
What are the reliable numbers of his career?
With Milan: 37 appearances in the Primavera in 2022-23 and 33 in 2023-24 as captain, four Serie A appearances with the first team (three in 2023-24 and one in 2024-25) and one in the Coppa Italia, plus 15 appearances and 4 goals in Serie C with Milan Futuro in 2024-25. Then eight appearances and one assist in Serie A with Monza from February 2025, five in Serie B with Monza in the first part of 2025-26, eight games and one goal in Serie B with Juve Stabia plus three playoff matches with another goal. At youth international level, 20 appearances: 12 at under-19 with 4 goals, 6 at under-20, 2 at under-21.
Why are the numbers in the statements not enough?
Because the statements recount certain stretches of his career without figures. On the first part of the 2024-25 season, split between the first team and Milan Futuro and closed inside the squad that won the Supercoppa Italiana on 6 January 2025, the Südtirol text gives no numbers; the same goes for the months in Serie B with Monza. The numbers do exist, though, and they are in the Lega Serie B profile: 15 appearances and 4 goals in Serie C, one appearance in Serie A, five appearances in Serie B with Monza.
What situation is he walking into at Südtirol?
A deeply rebuilt team. The South Tyrolean club stayed up through the playout last season and over the summer changed its sporting management, its head coach and its squad: sixteen out and eighteen in according to sporting director Matteo Lovisa, who on 2 September 2026, the day after Zeroli's arrival, set the objective as staying in the division. Davide Possanzini is on the bench.
