Gerry Cardinale has ramped up his appearances in the city of Milan after repaying the vendor loan to Elliott Management, and he will be present for the derby on Sunday evening.
In addition to the sporting struggles of last season, one of the main points of criticism for Cardinale was that he wasn’t present enough. Since repaying the loan to Elliott, however, there has been a massive change on that front.
As reported by Gazzetta dello Sport this morning, following a roundtable meeting with Donald Trump and others at the White House about college sports, Cardinale will fly to Milan today. He will be at Milanello first, and then he will be in the stands for the big Milan-Inter game.
Three times in 45 days
The timing, as the pink newspaper continues, is significant. Cardinale showed himself in the city for the first time in a while on January 21, when he met the team and the management at Milanello. Just a week later, RedBird confirmed that the vendor loan had been repaid to Elliott.
On February 15, he visited the training ground once again, followed by a meeting with the Lega Serie A assembly the next day. In short, tomorrow’s visit will be his hird in just 45 days and it will also be his sixth time watching a game at San Siro.
It’s clear that the owner has flicked a switch in terms of making himself seen and heard, taking his ownership to the next level.
What his presence means
It should be clarified that Cardinale’s presence doesn’t change much from an operational point of view. The owner is already following the team closely from the United States, and it’s not like the directors suddenly get different roles as soon as he’s in town.
On the other hand, it never hurts to have the boss present when there are big decisions to make, or if certain initiatives need to be explored. In that sense, the stadium and NBA Europe projects are of particular interest, seeing as both could result in a lot of revenue.
Manica and Foster+Partners are currently working on the design of the stadium, which must be decided before the summer, while the NBA project is moving full steam ahead. Cardinale’s plan is to register a franchise with Milan’s name and colours, but negotiations are still ongoing on that.
