Scaroni discusses Inter defeat, stadium issue, Leao’s renewal and Ibrahimovic’s future

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has spoken about a number of topics from the club’s economic recovery to the futures of Rafael Leao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Scaroni continues to be a figurehead of Milan despite the speculation over the last few weeks that he might leave, especially after the change of ownership from Elliott Management to RedBird Capital.

He has always been at the forefront of speaking on corporate issues such as the mission to build a new stadium and the importance of balancing sporting results with economic ones, given the very difficult financial period Milan endured in the mid 2010s.

Scaroni spoke to reporters at the Foglio Sportivo 2023 about various different issues, with his comments relayed by TMW.

“I was in a better mood yesterday evening before the match, this is football, what should we do. How can we give energy to Milan? I’m sure we’ll have some when we return, I don’t consider the match done. We are confident, I’m not saying it but our coach Pioli says it. We look forward full of confidence,” he said.

Confident why?

“When one takes care of a team there are two mountains to climb, one in terms of results and one in economics, which are connected. When I look back, I think we have climbed both for the most part. We are confident of qualifying for the Champions League again.

“From an economic point of view we have done very well, I hope we will close in profit thanks to the Champions League, we always have a full stadium. Everything is going in the right direction, thanks to those who manage the team and the club.”

Can Napoli be an example to follow?

“They have a very strong team, even when they lost he played very well. They managed to win the Scudetto, to have young and strong players and the balance sheet was profitable, De Laurentiis was very good, he managed to have everything a club would like to have.”

The renewal of Leao?

“The renewal of Leao is in the hands of our managing director Furlani and Maldini. I don’t know the details, but I see Furlani relaxed.”

Yesterday, apart from the result, a large box office revenue…

“Yes, takings are the fuel of our business. With a new stadium, for companies that use these big events for their clients and their consultants, tickets could be sold to companies for 5,000 euros each.

“I’m not talking about the people, but of companies: being able to spend on special places, where perhaps they can shake hands with the protagonists, is not unthinkable.”

What is Milan’s plan A for the stadium today?

“Did you ask Antonello the same question? We, like Milan, evaluate many possibilities. San Siro has big question marks, every step with the Municipality makes everything economically less attractive.

“Apart from this, we have some questions that we will begin to address soon. In parallel, we at Milan do not give up on studying other hypotheses. We have in mind a couple of realistic one.

“We also work on these, because we cannot limit ourselves to having a single hypothesis on such an important issue. Of course, building a stadium is a titanic experience: in any situation there are fierce oppositions that force you to take a step back.”

But did you set yourself a deadline?

“I think a decision will come by this summer.”

How do you think it is possible to manage a player like De Ketelaere?

“I must say that I hear, within Milan, from those who deal with confidence that this signing will give the results expected of him. There is a plan A, which is to give value to this signing. Patience is one of our virtues, our players are our heritage and it also happened with Tonali.”

Why didn’t you give up the presidency of Milan for that of Enel?

“First of all, because I’m a Milan fan. Milan gives unique emotions, I don’t want to give up these emotions. Then there’s the stadium theme, this journey that began in 2018 needs to be completed, I still have many things to do and the desire to do them.”

What about Ibrahimovic’s future?

“I think that if he’s doing well, he must continue to stay at Milan. He needs to be doing well but only he can say that. He’s doing well here, I see him even when he attends matches, he’s very involved, he’s a great fan of Milan. If he’s good and if you feel like it, good like this.”

Tags AC Milan Paolo Scaroni

5 Comments

  1. Stop this story of stadium building which is not easy to come by in the next 3yrs
    Talk about spending money to buy quality players next season
    Spend first on the improvement of the squad and stop deceiving us with the story of u building stadiums

  2. “tickets could be sold to companies for 5,000 euros each.”
    Where’s the 30 euro ticket dude? Even the president acknowledges the way in which pricing is killing us. When I go to concerts where I’m from, to get a good ticket it’s 500 plus. Or watch with binoculars for 60. It’s your pick but I dont want to poop on people’s finances. It’s just what it is. Milan should be pricing their tickets better than only getting 2.5mil. for a game against a top 5 team like Lazio. Plain and simple.

  3. “managing the team well” we are are in fifth talking qualifying for next cl now is pointless because we are with one foot outside of europe compentisions with no budget and cheap transfers is nothing . building a stadium without improving the team with good transfers like wtf with these results the new stadium will be 90% without a crowd are you stupid just resign because you keep money from milans bank for your retirement gtfo you eliott redbird just setback milan 6 yrs back .

    1. They’ve set us 6 years back? Really now?
      We’re back at the Bertolucci/Paletta/Montolivo/Lapadula era? Is that really where we’re at?

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