AC Milan embarked on a new stadium project with their neighbours Inter a few years ago, but now they have broken away and have big plans of their own.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recall how the two Milan clubs were pushing to build a new stadium next to the current San Siro but there were ultimately too many obstacles that kept emerging and thus the Rossoneri broke away.
What started as media suggestions that Milan would break decades of tradition and build their own stadium quickly became concrete, especially with the transfer of ownership to RedBird Capital partners.
An all-Milan facility is now the goal, with construction costs obviously higher than a shared structure, but repaid over time by evidently higher revenues.
One of the first areas identified was in Sesto San Giovanni, that of the former Falck steelworks. Local institutions ready to welcome the project, but reclamation costs deemed too high by the club.
Then La Maura entered the scene, which had the great advantage of being just over a kilometer as the crow flies from the current Meazza. However, this hypothesis fell through too, above all due to difficulties linked to the environmental impact in an area subject to protection.
Then, San Donato Milanese came along and it became apparent very quickly that the site would house the best possible conditions in bureaucratic terms and above all in terms of timing.
San Donato offers the metro, the railway station and an area – called San Francesco – nestled between the beginning of Milan’s eastern ring road and the junction that allows those arriving from the A1 motorway to enter the city.
It is a spot with enormous visibility, meaning it is particularly attractive in terms of sponsors for the naming of the facility.
The characteristics of the stadium are as follows: two tiers and not three (otherwise the costs would rise a lot) with a capacity of between 65-70,000, equipped with restaurants, museum and club store.
By September, Milan should send the first project to the Council of San Donato, but the dialogue already began months ago. Milan acquired SportLifeCity, the company that owns the San Francesco site, which was a firm step forward.
In the club’s intentions, the aim is to christen the new home between 2028 and 2029.
