Gerry Cardinale and his fund RedBird Capital are settling in as the new owners of AC Milan, but there is no time to stop and evaluate with five key points on the agenda.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the new Rossoneri owner is perfectly aware of the club’s agenda, tasks and objectives, ones which will become particularly intense in the next month or so.
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It starts with the league campaign itself, because from 13 October to 13 November – or the last league match before the World Cup break – there are six Serie A fixtures in which Milan want to try and get themselves back on top or at least stay in amongst the pace setters. After a difficult start on paper there are some more straightforward matches to come, but in this league nothing can be called easy.
The Champions League fate for the Rossoneri will also be decided in the next month. The first two games produced four points and gave the illusion that qualification could be achieved in a routine way, but now Milan face Dinamo Zagreb (A) and Red Bull Salzburg (H) aiming to get back among the top sixteen teams in Europe.
The Rafael Leao issue is one that Cardinale will tackle along with Paolo Maldini, who made it clear that the club’s intention is to reach an agreement before the winger leaves for Qatar. Also in this case there are no certainties, but the paper states that Milan are willing to offer a five-year contract worth €5m net per season and contribute €10m to the nearly €20m fine owed to Sporting CP, even if Leao wants €7m/yr.
Then, there are the club accounts. On October 26, the shareholders’ meeting will approve the financial statements as of June 2022. They are expected to show a loss of €66.5m, an improvement of €30m compared to €-96.4m in 2021 and an abyss compared to €-194.6m in 2020.
Revenues are also increasing, reaching €300m with a +14 percent rise thanks to the re-established presence in the Champions League and winning the Scudetto, but they can go up further and meetings are planned with Emirates to try and secure an agreement worth more than double the current.
Finally, the new stadium project. We are in full public debate and it is almost superfluous to reiterate that for the project to boost turnover imagined by Cardinale, a new club-owned stadium – even if shared with Inter – is a cornerstone that is absolutely necessary.
This is shown by the inspection carried out personally in recent months in Sesto San Giovanni, an alternative location if the San Siro area should ultimately fail. The objective: to be on the pitch at a new stadium for the 2027-28 season.
I’m pro for Sesto Van Giovanni’s plan. ACM needs his own home alone without rival.
As I said before it’s asinine to start w 5M for Leao. Offer him what he wants (7M) now and be done with it. 5M is insulting to the reining MVP and who all of Europe’s big clubs want. Sorry but the market has changed. If Rabiot makes 7M surely Leao is worth that much and should be one of the highest paid players in ITALY. PSG will come after him to replace Mbappe and if we don’t sign him asap. We do not have the luxury of slow playing this negotiation or nickel and dime him. He has too much leverage as everyone wants him. And if he shines in the WC how much do you think he will ask for then?? Don’t waste time. Make a strong offer. Give him 7M and pay his fine off – it’s a solid investment. And do it BEFORE PSG sell Mbappe – that way IF we need or are forced to sell – it will be for much more than 150M etc…We don’t have the luxury of mucking this up. 7M and pay off his fine. Period. We are only to blame of this doesn’t happen