AC Milan director Paolo Maldini has insisted that he and Zvonomir Boban will ‘not wait 15 years’ for the club to become competitive at an elite level again.
Maldini returned to the club in an official position over the summer, forming part of a new-look management which includes sporting director Ricky Massara and Chief Football Officer Boban.
There have been doubts over the ambitions and intentions of owners Elliott Management, who seized control of the club last year when previous owner Yonghong Li defaulted on loan repayments.
Boban recently explicitly stated that while his intention is not ‘get results tomorrow’, that is not exactly what the ownership have in mind.
Now, Maldini has spoken exclusively to Sky Italia (via MilanNews.it) about the current state of the club, and an excerpt of the interview has been released.
“It is delicate, but it is part of a phase of growth of the club, three changes of ownership in a few years have undermined this team,” he said.
“The change of coach was not expected but it is a decision that we have taken, reluctantly, shared with the club.
“We took a coach with very strong concepts to help a young team. A decision like this is better to take at the beginning of the season than halfway through when it’s gone.
“We have inherited a team with massive losses, we had a zero-balance mercato. We have been banned from Europe also because of the previous managements.
“The journey is difficult. The fans and who watch Milan have a more complete idea than those who live here [in Italy].
“I am convinced of my work, I am doing my best, my permanence as everyone’s will be linked to the results.”
On the return to success: “It takes time. The fact that Zvone is with me makes it clear that we don’t want to go back to that level in ten years. Our presence should give a guarantee for a return to certain levels in an acceptable period of time.
“If the idea is to be competitive again in fifteen years we will certainly not be the ones in charge of the sports management.”
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