Former AC Milan sporting director Massimiliano Mirabelli has jumped to the defence of Stefano Pioli and Paolo Maldini amid the club’s current crisis.
Mirabelli was sporting director of Milan for a short period of time between 2017 and 2018 as part of the Yonghong Li ownership, and carried out a summer window – along with Marco Fassone – that saw over €200m spent.
He is now working for Padova in Serie C but often speaks about the Rossoneri who have had a resurgence in the last three years, and he gave an interview to TuttoMercatoWeb in which he assessed the current moment, starting with the Nicolo Zaniolo links.
“If he had gone to Milan, Zaniolo would have ended up at a top club and remained in the Italian league. He is a young boy, it would have been more appropriate if he had gone to Milan,” he said (via PianetaMilan).
“Now the question is: how long will he last in the Turkish league? And in the future whoever wants him will have to pay the release clause. Zaniolo will now have to do well.”
Milan are currently on a run of seven games across all competitions without a win and have lost four on the bounce including twice against Inter, but Mirabelli thinks the calls for drastic action are unfair.
“I hear criticisms about Stefano Pioli and Paolo Maldini that I don’t agree with. They are doing a great job. It is physiological that there is a decline, we must remember that Milan are one step away from qualifying for the Champions League I don’t agree with the criticisms. You can’t go from praising Pioli to calling him a fraud, I hope Milan keep him.”
When Mirabelli is defending them you just know they are doing something horribly wrong and it is probably time to start saying goodbyes.