As well as the sporting pride of being among the best 16 teams in Europe, there is a financial aspect to AC Milan’s motivations to reach the Champions League knockout stages.
Winning at the Stadion Maksimir against Dinamo Zagreb would certainly give a big boost to the Rossoneri’s chances of qualifying for the round of 16 of the Champions League, as they would fully have their fate in their own hands ahead of the game against Red Bull Salzburg next Wednesday.
Calciomercato.com report that Stefano Pioli’s Milan strongly wants to take that next step in Europe after finishing bottom of the group last year. This is also because of the plans for the sporting project, and reaching the knockouts would boost the UCL revenues this season to €60m euros and with the possibility of that further increasing.
An addition €9.6m would come from the passage of the round, but this figure will be added to the higher revenue derived from the market pool (which will vary even if Juventus and/or Inter fail to make it) and ticket sales (Milan-Chelsea was just under €7m in box office revenue).
Any additional economic resources would allow Milan to have a potentially significant market in January, with the name of Hakim Ziyech ‘marked in red under the heading of opportunities’, and there may also then be the chance to make a bid for the future centre-forward.
The profile on which Maldini and Massara are working with more attention is Armando Broja of Chelsea, with Noah Okafor of Salzburg as an alternative. Win in Zagreb, boost revenues and reinvest – that is Milan’s plan.
I will prefer Noah Okafor to Armando Borja, please. Hakim Ziyech is a goal!