AC Milan technical director Geoffrey Moncada has revealed some fascinating details about his arrival at the club and his rise to being an important player in the transfer market.
Speaking during an interview with the club’s official media (via Pianeta Milan), the man who could also be described as Milan’s sporting director opened up about his role and the future of the club.
He is a man that many fans know little about, largely due to the fact that he has no presence on social media beyond a LinkedIn account where he is listed as being a ‘video analyst’. You can read some more about his professional background in this piece.
He joined Milan at the beginning of the Elliott Management era back in 2018 and even back then it was regarded as a big scalp for the Rossoneri thanks to his impressive body of work. He was first asked about what his dreams in football were as a child.
“My first contact with football was with Monaco. I immediately understood that it was the job I wanted to do in the future. As a child it was my father who took me to the stadium to watch the matches. I started following and became crazy about football,” he said.
On the teams he followed most: “I liked Southern European games more. Milan had many Frenchmen in the team, such as Marcel Desailly. But I also like Spanish and Portuguese football.”
On how he approached the world of football: “I had a grandfather who was crazy about football, he showed me lots of games. I started to understand tactics. I was born in Saint-Tropez but then I went to Monaco, to Nice, and these areas were important for football in France.”
His memories of Milan in those years: “Milan had many French players. I discovered Milan when they played against PSG and Monaco in the Champions League, because in France they did not show Serie A. That was the first time I saw San Siro and its fans, it was a very, very strong team.”
His playing career: “I was a player like Gattuso, very aggressive, with a lot of pressing and intensity despite not being very tall. I wasn’t bad but I wasn’t a super player. I didn’t have the right profile to play. I liked the world around football more than being a player.”
On the relationship with my parents: “I am very close to my parents. My father let me watch the games, he let me play football. My mother didn’t always agree with me but she always let me do what I wanted. They always told me to do what I liked and above all to go as far as possible. They told me to have my own experiences, to travel.”
The stages of his career: “I studied management, it was interesting but I was missing something on a sporting level. So after I had finished my studies, I found a football company, Video Profile. They worked with videos of the teams, players and above all scouting.”
The call from Monaco: “I sent my resume to Monaco one year before, I waited because it was my club. Then the sporting director called me and told me he had to have a meeting with me because the coach at the time, Claudio Ranieri, needed a match video analyst. I went to Monte Carlo and did the meeting, afterwards they asked me to join.”
The emotion of working with Monaco: “I didn’t believe it, but when the time is right you know you have to go for it.”
His beginnings at Monaco: “The team was in Ligue 2, but the Russian investor changed everything. Mister Ranieri asked for me but there was nothing in the office, so we had to start from scratch. For me it was interesting, I had a good relationship with the coach, staff and locker room. That was important, because I saw and learned everything, that’s how you understand what the coach needs.”
On Monaco’s owners and strategy: “They are businessmen, first and foremost, and their work ethos was about developing players to be sold. Each season, they asked us to sign ten players and sell ten. I think that’s where the idea of scouting to sell began.”
Scouting work: “I then started working as the scouting coordinator. In the mornings, I worked with the coach, the staff and the players as a video analyst. In the afternoons, I worked with the scouting. It was difficult work, without rest, but very intense and interesting. The importance of opponent analysis is evident. We had at least three appointments with the team to analyse the opposition.”
His travels: “During the week I was always in the office, organising and planning things for the scouting team. At the weekend, I would leave on Friday evening to watch games and come back on Monday. But when you go on these trips, you meet a lot of people including sporting directors, scouts and journalists. It’s important to go watch the players, you learn so much. Maybe the player’s family is there, or you get information from other scouts.”
The relationship with the team as a video analyst: “The players realised that I arrived with humility. I showed them where we could improve, not that we must improve. I was then lucky enough to have players like Abidal, Falcao and James Rodriguez who always asked me questions about their performances.”
His best discoveries: “Bakayoko, Thomas Lemar, Benjamin Mendy, Djibril Sidibe, a lot of French players, Valere Germain. We played in the Champions League, won Ligue 1, we played the semi-final against Juve which we lost. It was great to see a group that was formed three years earlier growing so much. Fabinho, Bernardo Silva, Youri Tielemans, Anthony Martial etc.”
His biggest regret: “There is a great example here at Milan now, Ismael Bennacer. He started at a small club in France, we went to watch him many times. However, he went straight to a big club, Arsenal, and he didn’t play which is normal. He went to Italy and improved a lot, he has become a top player. He’s an example of why we need to work harder, we need to give young players more time.”
The call from Milan: “They called me in August to become the Chief Scout, it was the summer when the American fund Elliott arrived. We had three meetings and then we reached December. In that period, I was working for Monaco but thinking about Milan. I had already made my choice. Then I spoke to Monaco, they understood but it wasn’t easy. At Milan, there was so much to do and build, making it a very interesting project.”
On the differences between Monaco and Milan: “Everything is different, there is more pressure here. In Italy there is more passion, everyone talks about football. I immediately understood that I had to do well, find the right players and create a workflow. It was maybe easier and quicker at Monaco.”
Scouting at Milan: “Most of the scouts are here in Italy. It’s important to have some foreign scouts because they have a different perspective, and we can’t travel everywhere. My role now is technical director. We have a lot of meetings and all of our reports are in a database.
“When we have done all of our work – scouting, watching live and collecting data – I speak directly to the staff and coach Pioli. Then we can say ‘we have an interesting right-back, left-back, what do you think?’. A report is a hand. This is how we did things in the summer.
“We worked with a certain profile in mind. We wanted physically strong, fast and powerful players. Then it also depends on the mercato, how much we can develop the squad, the available solutions, the budget etc. However, the most important to work with the staff and the coach.”
On the modus operandi: “You should understand that today, there is incredible competition. There are German, English, Spanish and Italian clubs that work well. We are all more or less after the same players. I think you need to watch a player live a minimum of four times: two matches at home and two away.
“We also need to look at important data, information on the injury history, the player’s mentality and family. We need to understand the entire package. When we have this information, I go to watch the player live. I can talk about tactical aspects and so on, but nowadays players want to understand what’s in it for them. I think we are a great club in a great city, so I try to sell them on the entire lifestyle.”
What you look for in a player: “The data helps you find players you don’t know. But at the end of the day, you need to watch them live because you see a lot of things: their pace, how strong they are etc.
“We are looking for an excellent player profile, and we also focus a lot on the mentality. Perhaps they like talking about Milan, or about themselves. I want to understand this because this is a lad who might become part of a 25-man locker room. We need to create a group and a culture of unity. The club is bigger than anyone, we want a group.”
On Rafael Leao: “I discovered him when I was at Monaco. I went on a scouting trip to Lisbon and there was a Sporting U19 league match. I saw a player with No.10 on his back. He was tall, fast and technically gifted, the qualities that we all recognise in Leao. I immediately saw a player with incredible talent.
“Then, we followed him at all levels and I’m certain other scouts noticed him as well. However, he didn’t always do well. One game he played, one game he was with the B team, another time with the U19s. It was difficult to follow him.
“The most important thing for me is when, at the end of their academy experiences, a player plays in the UEFA Youth League. When a player does well in that competition, it’s a clear indication that the player will have a successful career; it’s as easy as that.
“And Leao did incredibly well in the Youth League, he was on another planet. The whole world of scouting, not only Monaco and Milan, watched him and concluded that he would be a strong player. Now he’s playing and doing well.”
His presence at Milanello: “I follow training in the morning, speaking with the staff and the coach, which is the most important thing. I think it’s important to know the players because they are going to be with us for the next few years.
“We talk about family, health and how they are feeling so we can understand where to improve. I’m always open with them, we don’t have time to only talk amongst ourselves. Giorgio Furlani is also by my side, he helps me a lot and gives me a lot of space. It’s a great life working for Milan.”
Milan’s negative moments: “A season is very long, we have to remain calm and work. It’s only normal to have tougher periods, because we might be facing stronger opponents or we might be dealing with injuries. For me, it’s important to remain level-headed and see a season through until the very end.
On the future of Milan: “The idea is to create a group of strong players, who will work together for three to four years. We also need an academy where young Italian players develop so that they can help the team, this is very important.
“A project takes place over a 2-4 year period. If we create a great team and group of players over 2-3 years, we will win things. We have made a lot of changes, next year we will make a couple more changes player-wise but the foundation of the team is already there.
“Although we all want to win straight away, there needs to be a plan to do things well. Everyone has a role to play in the group.”
