Diktats, expiring contract and work to judge: Moncada’s past, present and future at Milan explained

The subject of expiring contracts is something that is always topical, but one area that is often ignored is the directors whose deals will run out.

Some sources have speculated about the future of Geoffrey Moncada, the Technical Director of Milan who was officially promoted to that role from Chief Scout following the departure of Paolo Maldini.

There have been suggestions that this is ‘a season of truth’ for Moncada, and the idea that he could leave Milan if certain objectives are not achieved, both on the field and in terms of the business done.

According to what our colleagues at SempreMilan.it have learned, however, Moncada’s future seems more certain because he is almost intrinsically tied to the project and the ownership, unlike Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara who departed.

The market matters

Precisely for this reason, Moncada’s work is evaluated more than just the results obtained on the pitch. The value of the players signed is something that is obviously a key factor in how his judgements are viewed.

In this sense, his stock does not appear damaged when considering the many players who have seen their market value grow during this season.

Youssouf Fofana, Tijjani Reijnders, Christian Pulisic and even previous signings like Theo Hernandez, Rafael Leao and Pierre Kalulu all have a higher price tag than what Milan paid to acquire them.

Moncada’s great merit in the eyes of the Rossoneri ownership is that he has respected the spending limit imposed of around €20-25m per player, increasing the overall value of the squad in spite of it.

In this sense, with his work at Milan, Moncada has made few mistakes: only Samuel Chukwueze and Emerson Royal to date (as per Transfermarkt) have a valuation equal to or lower than what Milan paid to buy them.

Obviously the mercato is a substantial piece in the evaluation of a director, but another big decision that the management had to make in the summer was that of the head coach.

Choosing Fonseca

It is worth looking at the point that most ties Moncada to the sporting results that Milan will achieve this season: the choice to hire Paulo Fonseca as the new head coach.

Even in this case, Moncada did not choose the name of the former Lille man on his own and with carte blanche. Far from it, in fact. The Frenchman had to accept the ‘dictates’ coming from above, in particular those regarding the salary.

Fonseca was not the best coach available in the summer, but he was seen as the one who offered the best value for money per the limit imposed. The Portuguese had positive and decisive discussions with the management, which tipped the scales in his favour.

Another thing that factored into this was the situation related to Stefano Pioli. The Rossoneri management did not terminate the deal with the previous coach so anticipated having to pay him for 2024-25, before he joined Al-Nassr.

Thus, Milan anticipated (and had to budget for) the idea of having to pay out over €12m in gross salaries for Fonseca and Conte. Had they gone for a bigger name with a higher salary than Fonseca’s €2.5m net, the costs would have been even higher still.

It would be foolish to think that only the cost made the difference, and it is unknown which other coaches fell into the salary parameters but it certainly played a crucial role especially when compared to the most credible alternatives.

Even in this case, Moncada worked in full compliance with the rules imparted by RedBird Capital by bringing to Milan a coach with certain characteristics and a low overall cost.

Loyalty and the lack of renewal

If everything is fine and in order, why have Milan not renewed Geoffrey Moncada’s contract yet? Well, mainly because the season has only started three months ago and as we know in football everything can change even in a matter of weeks.

Furthermore, for a marriage to continue, there needs to be two parts in agreement. The work done by Moncada at Milan has not gone unnoticed abroad where several clubs have reportedly shown interest in the French manager.

Milan seek a combination of sustainability and sporting results, two factors that Moncada has always tried to respect with his work. What this means is there might be more ambitious projects out there, with PSG and Atletico Madrid standing out as potential destinations.

Moncada feels a strong loyalty to Milan having arrived six years ago in 2018, first as a chief scout, but he still intends to at least listen to what other clubs have to pitch to him. Monaco actually wanted him back last summer, but the ‘promotion’ to Technical Director helped satisfy his personal hunger.

Moreover, Gerry Cardinale has belief that he is the man to orchestrate the post-Maldini era. Another thing the leadership like is that he does so in quite a silent way given his lack of media appearances, fully in line with RedBird’s mission to run a tight ship.

For all of the reasons mentioned above, Moncada is currently on more solid footing than others within the management because of how much he aligns with the modus operandi of the ownership group.

However, given that Cardinale has already made the bold decision to sack a club legend like Maldini, whose to say that other heads will not role if matters on the field put Milan in a tough PR position.