It is being widely reported that the game against Salernitana will be Stefano Pioli’s last in charge of AC Milan, and the club have an idea regarding how his tenure will end.
This morning’s edition of Corriere dello Sport (via PianetaMilan) confirms that Pioli – who took over from Marco Giampaolo on 9 October 2019 – will leave his position after the game against Salernitana in a few days, which will close the 2023-24 season.
Pioli’s career at Milan will be remembered for the 2021-22 Scudetto win and reaching the Champions League semi-final in 2023, but also the many disappointments particularly this season when the team failed to kick on in any competitions.
Pioli’s entourage are expected to get in touch with the Milan leadership to establish how to end relations given he has a contract expiring on 30 June 2025. There are actually two possibilities and one of them is a sacking, which means the club have to pay him for the last year of his deal.
Pioli receives over €4m net per season and for the Rossoneri, who will hire another coach, it would be a considerable burden on the balance sheet given it is almost double in terms of gross and there would be his staff to pay off too.
If this path of separation were chosen, Milan would stop paying Pioli only when the coach found a new club, but it must be said that Napoli and Bologna are both considering the idea of bringing him in.
The other idea is a mutual termination of the contract between the parties with the recognition of severance pay to the coach. Usually they agree on a figure around half of the remaining year’s salary but it depends on the coach’s willingness to negotiate and it is not a given that it will happen.