it hasn't - there have been some clues here and there but mostly indirect indeed.
Also, Barca's involvement have been much more high profile and they've been after Fab for years now with the British and Spanish press milking the situation every which way - this has helped Milan keep a low profile in this whole thing and constant clams by Galliani that Italian teams cannot afford big transfers anymore along with those Mr X guessing games has helped too. The only thing Galliani has said about Fabregas as a possibility has been things like "impossible", "the fiscal possibilities aren't there", etc, etc ... compare that to all the Barca directors, coaches, and players BS in the media about Fab being almost theirs, very sad in London, etc and you get the picture.
Also Galliani has not been directly involved in negotiations but has "hired" Mino Raiola as an intermediary and thus escaping the scrutiny of the media - Galliani is seemingly inactive on the Fab chase but Raiola in May let it slip in the media that he had been working on a major transfer for Milan since Jan/Feb of 2011 ... that transfer is Fabregas