The business magazine Forbes have predicted that AC Milan will sell another star player next summer if they are eliminated from European competitions before the new year.
Forbes talk about how damaging the defeat against Borussia Dortmund at San Siro on Tuesday night might end up being for Milan, not only in terms of their sporting ambitions but also the off-field ramifications.
They talk about the financial cost of a second group stage exit in three years. Milan made over $108m (€100m) through a combination of prize money, TV money and gate match day revenue from their run to the semi-finals of the competition last season.
Of course it was always going to be tough to repeat that run, but this was part of the reason the club posted a profit for the first time in 17 years in their 2022-23 accounts. Now, they need to beat Newcastle and hope Paris Saint-Germain lose at Dortmund to qualify, or they will lose out on around €40m compared to last season.
“For a club that runs a tight ship financially, an early exit would likely mean the departure of another key player next summer,” the report mentions. Moreover, Forbes report that Champions League elimination would heap even more pressure on Pioli and ‘make any further stay beyond this season impossible’.
