AC Milan are heading towards a restructuring of their management ahead of next season, and it could bring some major changes.
As Corriere dello Sport writes this morning, the battle between the ‘two-headed leadership’ has not gone well for Milan since towards the end of Silvio Berlusconi’s time in charge. A clear fracture between the financial and sporting side emerged, between Barbara Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani.
The same scenario was seen when Paolo Maldini – fresh from winning the Scudetto – obtained from Gerry Cardinale the renewal of his contract with complete autonomy for the technical area. The previous constraint of shared decisions under the watch of then-CEO Ivan Gazidis was abolished.
Nonetheless, as soon as the results did not match expectations, a bloody divorce from the former captain (plus Ricky Massara) took place with the mortal sin of not providing, at the same time, for the replacement of the two figures.
There have been exceptions to this, like with Inter who had a sporting CEO in Beppe Marotta and a corporate CEO in Alessandro Antonello, each with well-defined boundaries. The same was seen at Juventus under Andrea Agnelli with two CEOs, Mazzia for the accounts and Marotta for the pitch.
This means that when the owner’s mandate is clear and the collaboration between the two top directors is loyal and profitable, it is possible to lead a club of such high ranking with two steering wheels.
Milan must change
Now, at Milan, it seems that something different has happened compared to a few weeks ago and a very short chain of command has been re-established. In truth it was always there in black and white, but lines can become blurred when new figures (like Zlatan Ibrahimovic) enter the frame.
CEO Giorgio Furlani has the signing powers every contract must pass through his desk for signature and every transfer operation with repercussions on the budget must receive his approval. Why did he fly to the USA to speak with Gerry Cardinale?
The answer is simple: because the leak, fuelled by the sporting directors and their agents, regarding the meetings in London with Cardinale and Ibrahimovic made the CEO seem like the lowest wheel of the wagon.
The negative results this season force a reflection. Where have dysfunctions and gaps emerged? Here, it is precisely in those sectors that we will need to intervene by strengthening the structure of Milan, going beyond the hiring of a sporting director.
What remains the most important thing beyond individuals like the next head coach is that Milan establish an overall plan with positive repercussions on the performance of the team, and establish a unity between the financial and sporting areas.
Like the saying goes, too many cooks…Makes sense, just don’t focus on the commercial side too much at the expense of the sporting side. I understand the need for global commercial and brand appeal, but we need to win on the field of play otherwise the support suffers!
Elliot are almost certainly flexing their muscles, Redbird have to pay Elliot back by July 2026, if they default, Elliot take over. Cardinale isn’t an idiot. He knows he needs to make the club successful, he knows he’ll only get a return if Milan build a stadium.
Redbird main focus is building the stadium but these bozos underestimated the bureaucracy in Italy to get things done.
So now it’s not so easy as they thought. Furlani represents Elliott. That’s why he’s there and that’s why he went to NY with 2 lawyers to meet with Cardinale.
Ibra has no power to make decisions on the next sporting director and once a sporting director is appointed it will be the end of his time at Milan.