Former AC Milan CEO Ivan Gazidis has heaped praise on chief scout Geoffrey Moncada and the former technical director Paolo Maldini for their role in the club’s resurgence.
Moncada’s name is one that is very much respected in the footballing world, to the extent that our interview with Milan’s minority shareholder Riccardo Silva he labelled him as being among the ‘top scouts in the world’.
We published a profile on the Frenchman on our Substack including his background, some interesting quotes and his body of work since he has been with the Rossoneri.
Meanwhile, Maldini’s role has been well documented. He became technical director in 2019 and stayed in the position for four years, overseeing a 19th Scudetto and a run to the Champions League semi-finals before being controversially sacked.
Gazidis spoke during an interview with Business of Sport, a podcast hosted by the brothers Charlie & Harry Stebbings, and he was asked what choices were made by Elliott Management to help rebuild Milan.
“They completely revolutionised management, both at a sporting and commercial level, and from there we immediately had a lot to do to fix the team.
“The first thought was to lower the wage bill, because we couldn’t afford to lose all that money, but at the same time we also had to improve our performance on the pitch, that was the real challenge.
“We hired Moncada, a world class scout leader, and a team of expert scouts, combining these two things we immediately achieved excellent results.
“Then we identified Paolo Maldini as sporting director, he immediately impressed me. Paolo not only brought charisma to him, but he was able to create real father-son relationships with the younger players. Paolo was very good.”
