Former Lazio midfielder Marco Parolo has tipped Igli Tare to be a success at AC Milan, amid rumours he will become the new sporting director.
Multiple sources are reporting that Tare will take up the role at Milan after weeks of links. It seemed as though he had got the job last month after a meeting with CEO Giorgio Furlani before things went quiet again, but now an acceleration has arrived.
Tare is known for having spent a decade and a half with Lazio, with six trophies arriving under his watch and some excellent signings, from Miroslav Klose and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to Luis Alberto and Luiz Felipe.
Parolo knows Tare well. It was the Albanian who bought him in 2014 from Parma and brought him to Lazio where the midfielder remained until 2021. The former midfielder – who is now a pundit for DAZN – spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport to shed some light on the director.
What can Tare give to Milan?
“If Milan hire him, they will secure a professional who is very keen to start over and return to the world of football. He will be a plus for the club: he will arrive with a great deal of energy after having studied and continued to update himself in these two seasons in which he has been inactive.
“After having worked for fifteen years in Rome, he has broadened his horizons and gained experience by delving into European football.”
What are your best qualities?
“Charisma, authority and clear ideas.”
What is Tare like in the dressing room?
“He seeks dialogue, he wants to understand the players, get to know them even off the pitch and get into their heads. He’s a carrot-and-stick guy, but when he uses the stick, he hits you hard in the teeth (laughs).
“And above all he has the same way of behaving with everyone, including the senators. I remember discussions even with Klose and Luis Alberto when they did something he didn’t like.”
Do you remember any outbursts at the squad?
“No outbursts, but he knew how to make himself heard. He raised his voice when he wanted to make you understand who you were representing or when he noticed behavior that needed correcting.”
Did he get angry with you too?
“Of course. When I had a slump, he knew how to touch the right chords and get me going again. There was a relationship of mutual respect and together we always looked for a way to improve the team, but when he had to tell me something, he told me.”
How did you work with the coach?
“He constantly makes him feel his presence and has a continuous exchange with him. He is always there to watch the training and he has two extra eyes, useful for understanding the moment that individuals are going through. When you arrived at Formello he was already there and when you left, he was always there.”
At Lazio, Tare became famous for his transfer market moves…
“He had many important intuitions: players paid little and valued over the years. He bet on Luis Alberto who in the first season had problems settling in and wanted to leave in January.
“He convinced him to stay and a few months later he exploded. Milinkovic snatched him from Fiorentina and he became his ‘godson’. Tare likes players who have physique, strength and quality.”
How does Tare get to the unknown talents first?
“He watches a lot of videos and follows all the league, without missing anything. At Lazio, before and during the transfer sessions, he would lock himself in a room with a match analyst every day to evaluate the characteristics of the possible signings. Once, before taking him, he showed me a video of Caicedo explaining how he saw him at Lazio.”
The summer window for Milan without European competitions will not be easy…
“He will have to change his perspective because in a top club it is necessary to consult with those who do scouting to identify the right profile. He likes to rely on his intuitions, on his ‘eye’, but there is also meta data.”
What is the biggest challenge that awaits him?
“He will have to be good at building a relationship with the players and earning their respect. He won a few trophies at Lazio, but his list of achievements is not rich in titles. That said, he has everything it takes to make himself liked by the leaders of the Rossoneri dressing room, just like he did at Lazio.”
What will he do with Theo and Leao?
“He will certainly have talks with them and clarify things. For him, the priority is always the club: if a player tries to put himself above everyone else, it is difficult for him to get along with Tare and stay.
“If I know him well, he will have already made up his mind about which players to take and which to sell: he knows football. Even Milan…”
Hmm interesting, sounds like he can add some much needed perspective to the management. I like that he seems to trust his eye but isn’t afraid of using data to supplement his evaluations.
I really have a good feeling about him. He’s not Berta or d’Amico, but still has a lot of experience which can be very useful to us. Looking forward to seeing him work.
I also have a good feeling about him. Experienced, knows the league and above all he’s there for his players. We need stability not another experiment.
How effective will he be though with the same management above him? Not like he’s getting autonomy.