Things took a turn for the worse today and Paolo Maldini could well end up leaving AC Milan after a tense meeting, a report claims.
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Luca Bianchin writes in a piece for La Gazzetta dello Sport that Milan and Paolo Maldini ‘are close to breaking up’. The meeting between Gerry Cardinale and the director this morning became a very tense face-to-face discussion.
Cardinale and Maldini parted ways with an open contrast and now the risk that the former club captain will leave is ‘high’, and it seems ‘difficult’ for the differences to be mended.
The impression is that this evening will not bring any official news but tomorrow could. It would be a ‘Big Bang’ that opens a new era and closes the Scudetto one in the most controversial way.
Reaching a Champions League semi-final and securing qualification for the next edition had prompted everyone to consider it logical that the management would continue, with RedBird an ambitious ownership and Maldini staying in his role.
However, many problems remained under the surface. The contrast arises from the differences in the plans for the coming months and for next season in particular.
RedBird evidently weren’t satisfied both with the season’s performance, with a fifth place transformed into fourth only by the deduction suffered by Juventus.
They also were not happy with the summer investments, with Charles De Ketelaere and Divock Origi symbols of choices that didn’t give results on the field. However, it is clear that something is missing in the relationship between Maldini and the owners, regardless of the victories and defeats.
Maldini, after complicated years in his relationship with the then-CEO Ivan Gazidis, signed a two-year renewal on 30 June 2022. That contract guaranteed him total autonomy in the technical area, within the budget established by the owners.
This arrived after lengthy negotiation over his contract, which was debated line by line, and that in itself shows there has never really been a full and total understanding.
In this scenario, Ricky Massara would leave as Maldini’s right-hand man but Stefano Pioli would remain as the head coach, because he has always had the trust of the owners and has received public appreciation from both Cardinale and Furlani.
