MN: Background on Gazidis’ right-hand man Hendrik Almstadt – Boban and Maldini’s stance

By Oliver Fisher -

Not much is known about Hendrik Almstadt, a an increasingly important figure in AC Milan’s market decisions, especially choices with regards to signings.

As MilanNews notes, Almstadt joined the Rossoneri in January 2019 and is now considered the right-hand man of CEO Ivan Gazidis. He deals with budgets for purchases and specialises in analysing the players identified on the market. 

In the past, the German was the director of player relations for the PGA European Tour, the organisation that manages the three main professional men’s golf tours in Europe. He also held the position of sports director at Aston Villa, which is where Gazidis – then at Arsenal – first met him. 

With the Gunners, he worked on the development of the youth sector (and even at Milan he is in close contact with head scout Geoffrey Moncada), and he specialised in analysing data on players who may be considered first team ready.

After the summer market, Almstadt gained some power in the club, especially in the eyes of Gazidis, and during the month of January his suggestions and ideas were listened to a lot by the CEO.

His views were not always shared by Zvonomir Boban and Paolo Maldini, as in fact some operations were endorsed and others were not (for budget and player evaluation reasons). The report adds that Almstadt wants to impose an innovative philosophy on style of recruitment in Italy.

Given his country of origin, the idea that Milan could turn to someone like ​​Ralf Rangnick for the future becomes more plausible, but the club are denying that for now.

Almstadt and Gazidis are in total harmony, and over the past few weeks the ideas of the former Aston Villa director are increasingly being considered within the club, even if Boban and Maldini have their concerns.

Tags AC Milan Hendrik Almstadt
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