Silvio Berlusconi is one of the most successful presidents in football history thanks to his 31-year spell as the owner of AC Milan. However, prior to completing the takeover, he had one major doubt.
Berlusconi bought the club back in 1986 and more or less saved it from bankruptcy. It was the start of a very successful era for Milan, who won eight Scudetti and five Champions Leagues (among many other honours) during Berlusconi’s reign.
Speaking to Corriere Della Sera, as cited by SempreMilan.it, the well-known Italian banker Giovanni Bazoli revealed that Berlusconi had one major doubt before he completed the purchase of Milan. A doubt that quickly went away, however.
“Berlusconi? We have never clashed, despite my political ideas, which notoriously don’t coincide with his. I’ve known Berlusconi since he was just a successful businessman. I encouraged him to buy Milan.
“By buying a team, he feared losing the sympathy of the supporters of the other teams. He wanted to please everyone. I pointed out to him that, as Agnelli demonstrated, owning a team doesn’t prevent you from being admired, quite the contrary,” he stated.
Berlusconi currently owns Monza and they earned promotion to Serie A for this season. They are currently in 14th place after recovering from a very tough start, having made many investments in the summer (resulting in a lot of expectations).
