A return to the Champions League is absolutely vital for Milan due to a number of different reasons, a report has outlined.
As Calciomercato.com writes, a top four finish will be enough to net Milan at least an extra €50m in revenue as that is what UEFA guarantee for reaching the group stages of the elite competition. A return to the Champions League would also have value for Elliott Management, who would see the consolidation of a project started almost three years ago.
After the publication of the financial statements as of December 2019, the total investments made by the Elliott fund was at €642.25m. The budget is still deeply in the red but the debts are almost zero, as the Americans have decided to finance the club directly without resorting to loans.
The purchase of Casa Milan is another sign of a concrete long-term vision from Elliott as it is not just an office but is also the headquarters of the club and the venue for exciting projects such as ‘The Studios: Milan Media House’ – an innovative hub of media production and distribution.
The report adds how a recent study placed the Rossoneri as the second most followed club in Italy, the eighth strongest brand in the US (the strongest among the Italian clubs) and the third overall in China behind Real Madrid and Barcelona. This is an appeal that turns into new sponsors, as confirmed by the recent agreement with BMW.
Elliott’s vision is to create financial and management stability; making sure the club is adequately capitalised and respects UEFA’s rules on Financial Fair Play. The wage bill has fallen from €140m in 2018-19 to €90m this year and there have been no crazy investments, but rather a focus on young players.
The likes of Theo Hernandez and Fikayo Tomori have arrived to become stars, as have Rafael Leao, Ismael Bennacer, Alexis Saelemaekers and Brahim Diaz, without forgetting the balance achieved with the experience of Simon Kjaer and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Elliott’s is a multi-year vision, and their target is “obtaining long-term successes for AC Milan starting from the ground up”. Now, Milan find themselves with a very young team, economically revalued and above all winning. A Champions League return would be the next step for the project, and the fruits of some hard labour.
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