AC Milan owner Gerry Cardinale has confirmed that San Donato will be the location for the club’s new stadium and says that a return to the club for Zlatan Ibrahimovic is down to the Swede.
Speaking during an interview with ClassCNBC (via Milan News) after collecting the Da Vinci Prize for Finance in the United States of America, Cardinale discussed a number of topics relating to Milan.
One of them was the new stadium and he confirmed that San Donato is where he wants it to be and he is keen to give the fans a ground that helps Milan grow in European football.
“The stadium is an important thing for Milan and for the fans. I want to give the fans the next ladder of European football. If we do it successfully it will also have a big impact on Italy. San Donato will be the place where we will do it. Timing? It will be a five-year project,” Cardinale explained.
There has been much talk at Milan recently about the potential return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the club in a non-playing role, but the details of what he might do have been scarce.
Cardinale says it is up to the former striker as to whether he wants to make it happen.
“Zlatan is a legend. I’m getting to know him, I like him a lot, he’s a born leader. We need more leaders around us. I love people who excel and who know how to give back what they’ve received. We have a young team, I think someone like Ibra could be very effective both as an advisor for me and as a leader for the whole team. It depends on him, but we are talking about it. I think there are many advantages for us,” he said.
On investing in Italy
“Everything is going well so far, but we have only been here for a year. I made it through the first year without doing much, I watched, I wanted to make sure I didn’t arrive in Italy and act like an American. We took our time. Those who preceded us did a great job and brought Milan to where it is now. That allowed me to do what we are doing now. So far the Milan people have been fantastic, everyone has welcomed me well. We have changed a lot, sometimes changes scare, but we are here for the long term to do well on and off the field.”
His American business model
“It is possible to use our model in Italy, but it will have to be Italianised. You can’t do things the American way in Italy. The team is a partnership with the fans, it’s a little different than in America. Fundamental things like performance on and off the pitch is a global phenomenon, so we will bring our best practices to Italy. When we made this investment I invited the Steinbrenner family and the New York Yankees as our partners: this is to ensure that the best practices come from New York and America to Italy.”
TV rights for Serie A
“I have worked a lot in sports media. There are two ways: you can continue to work with traditional media companies or you can create your own media company. With someone like us at RedBird in Serie A, this second option is absolutely to be considered. I don’t know if that will be the case. The world of sports media is complicated. We will have to find the right ways to maximise the value of our content. There is a lot of international interest in Serie A.”
American investment in Italian football
“There is a big disparity between the Premier league and the rest of Europe. If you look in Europe there are only two investor institutional owners, namely RedBrid and Qatar in Paris. In England it is very different. That’s why there are more chances for Americans to invest in other countries like Italy than in England. There are many American owners in Italy who deserve to return to the top of European football. AC Milan has the most Champions Leagues won after Real Madrid. We have to go back to the days when [Silvio] Berlusconi was the owner and we want to do it now. The world has changed and it’s up to me to find a new way to bring Milan back to the top.”
Growth of AC Milan
“I can’t take the credit. It’s a team effort. Elliott has done an extraordinary job in the years he has led Milan that has brought us to where we are now. Our focus is on winning the Scudetto and going as far as possible in the Champions League. Our revenues have never been so high. This then allows us to field the best possible team to win.”
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