Igli Tare has not even done a year as AC Milan’s sporting director, but his work will be evaluated at the end of the season.
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As Calciomercato.com recall, last summer Milan decided that they needed a sporting director to come in and plug a gap that was there previously, ever since the departures of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara. However, the talk of unrest within the management could lead to reflections.
The positives and the negatives
There are certain things that work in Tare’s favour so far. For example, the outgoing transfers were a big plus: the Albanian got €40m for Malick Thiaw, €20m for Theo Hernandez, €20m for Noah Okafor and other sales were completed to help the accounts with no Champions League revenues.
Two other factors favour the former Lazio chief. The first is that his relationship with the head coach Massimiliano Allegri is strong, and the second is that the results on the field have been much better since the duo took charge of the sporting side.
The incoming business however was a different story, leading to ‘friction’ with Giorgio Furlani. The CEO remains unsure about spending nearly €40m on Christopher Nkunku and Ardon Jashari, as well as the investment on players such as Pervis Estupinan.
Moreover, the Jean-Philippe Mateta deal (which subsequently fell through) was spearheaded by Furlani leaving Allegri and Tare somewhat in the dark, and this exemplifies the disconnect that emerged during the last winter transfer window.
Tare’s future will be ‘assessed at the end of the season’, given the differences he has had with some of the management in recent months.