Journalist Franco Ordine has urged the Milan leadership to remembered that the financial accounts are not all that matters and investment to keep the squad fresh is required.
There has been a great deal of media attention surrounding how Milan’s financial situation has been continuously improving since Elliott Management took control of the club after Yonghong Li’s lavish spending spree, and even though Elliott sold the club to RedBird Capital the outlook is still positive.
Revenues are on the up and the deficit continues to be cut while for rivals the opposite is true, while it must be said that a large part of that is down to containing squad costs through an internal salary cap and more prudent market investments.
However, Ordine has written in his column for MilanNews that simply pointing to an improving financial situation will not be enough for fans to see things as progressive, as it must come hand-in-hand with an improving squad.
“There is only one fortune for Milan: the solidity of its corporate structure capable of withstanding the inevitable turbulence after Wednesday’s sting in Arabia,” he said.
“Having the accounts in order is an ace in the hole as well as a guarantee for the future, but thinking that only having accounts in order matters is a mistake.
“There is only one move, in the next few hours, that can repair the sad climate in the Milan world: and that is to work hard to speed up the conclusion of the Leao negotiation which seems to have blown up the famous salary barrier set at 4.5 million net.
“This means that the shareholder has mandated an extra budget to Maldini and Massara that was unthinkable until a few months earlier, if the Portuguese signing were to come in exchange for the 6.5 million plus 1.5 million bonus as the market experts say. And I think this is the detail that counts, not so much the presence of Singer in the gallery while Cardinale remained in the USA.”
