Massimiliano Allegri wants his say on the transfer plans at AC Milan amid speculation he could become the Italy head coach.
In recent days, ever since Italy’s World Cup play-off defeat to Bosnia and the resignation of several key figures without the Federation, reports have been swirling suggesting that Allegri could be the man that the Azzurri turn to for an umpteenth attempt at rebuilding.
As we highlighted in a recent analysis and as the FIGC have found in their own commissioned report, there is a lot to fix. Max is a fixer though, as shown by the fact he took over a Milan side that finished eighth last season and has fought for the Scudetto for most of the season.
Allegri: Control and Milan and Italy talk
Luca Bianchin of La Gazzetta dello Sport gave an interview to MilanVibes in which he responded to some of the speculation regarding Allegri and a possible exit after just one year.
Is Allegri’s future with the Rossoneri or the Azzurri?
“It’s incredibly important to understand who the federal president will be. Each federal president obviously has his own ideas, and therefore his own coaches.
“We can say that Allegri is a natural candidate, because he has the physique du rôle for a national team, because he has a national team CV, because I think he’ll be coach of the national team sooner or later in his life. Whether that’s now, in five, six, or ten years… whether that’s the right moment, I don’t know.
“The main candidates are others, Antonio Conte above all. We need to wait and see. It’s clear that when you schedule the federal elections for June 22nd, you give yourself two and a half months of political work, of waiting, of strategies.
“As always, the first 15 days aren’t the ones that make the final decision in this regard. I think we need to wait until the weather gets a little warmer.
“Allegri is the Milan coach, he has a contract with Milan, he felt good in his first year at Milan, he has become more important than the fans initially thought, because he controls certain dynamics within the team and the club.
“He has established himself as a point of reference for the fans, so until the last day, if anything changes, and it’s unlikely he will, in any case he will work for Milan, for several weeks and probably for another year.
“Football changes rapidly, he always sends the ball into the stands, we have learned his line of communication, in press conferences he always tends to make it 0-0 [giving little away’, because he is good at making it 0-0.
“Therefore we won’t understand it from there, we will understand it from other movements, which will come to us not today, not tomorrow, but in the next 15-20 days.”
What does Allegri want for next season?
“We can’t get a list of names right now. Allegri wants a clear project, a linear project, in which even if he doesn’t decide everything, he doesn’t want to be a Ferguson-style manager, he still wants to have his say, he wants his say.
“If we look at the roles, he would certainly like a central defender, a central striker, who will be two of the three big names in Milan’s summer transfer window, the third name is a midfielder like Goretzka , he’s a player Milan have spoken to.
“I believe there will be two players in midfield and Allegri will ask for a more experienced, more dynamic player, I believe the club also wants dynamic, physical players, because playing twice a week is not the same as playing once a week.
“Milan must expand the squad and need players who are athletically ready to play twice a week, because there are situations like Modric, if Loftus-Cheek is still there , players who due to age or physique tend to miss some games, injuries over many years have been a major factor even under Pioli.
“So they will look for players even with those types of characteristics, Allegri often wants dynamic midfielders and a central midfielder who is more skilled at reading the ball and controlling the tempo. I think what Allegri will ask for will be in line with his past.
“For Modric we have to wait until April, which is more or less the time frame for Luka Modric’s decision. Of course, at Milan they are making sure that Modric stays for another year, he is very happy in Milan.
“We saw the victory two days ago of Ema, one of his daughters, who won a tournament with Milan at the beginner level , this shows how happy he is in Milan, even better than I thought.”
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