The disappointing results in Serie A and the violent elimination in the Champions League semi-finals by their Milanese rivals have exacerbated the already tense relationship between Paolo Maldini and Gerry Cardinale, owner and investor of RedBird, with whom the legendary Italian defender had significant disagreements. On June 6th, Paolo Maldini was dismissed by the American owners of the Rossoneri, who decided to start afresh in the club's sports management by also getting rid of his right-hand man, Federico Massara. Since this bombshell news, AC Milan has been struggling to fully meet its summer objectives, despite the promotions of Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada to lead the sporting decisions.
Apart from the contract extension of Rafael Leão, which was approved by Paolo Maldini before his dismissal, AC Milan has been stagnant this summer. All the initiatives started by the former Italian international have been discarded, and it is only logical that the Rossoneri have fallen behind their direct competitors, as some top Italian clubs have already secured several signings and verbal agreements with players. According to information shared by Footmercato, Paolo Maldini was even close to beating the competition for the signature of Italian prodigy Tommaso Baldanzi and had also made significant progress in securing the arrival of Domenico Berardi. Today, most of the papers signed by Maldini have been set aside. For a specific reason.
According to the same source, from some employees of the club, the departures of Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara have caused a shockwave in the offices of AC Milan and in the regional press that follows the club on a daily basis. American owner Gerry Cardinale has expressed his desire to establish an American-style sports culture by investing more in marketing, infrastructure, and technology, both in sports and medicine, to revolutionize the Milanese club. Following "an NBA model," the head of the RedBird investment fund already has stakes in the New York Yankees in MLB and the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. He plans to rely on several American experts, including Billy Beane (former baseball player and executive) and Luke Bornn (creator of Zelus Analytics), by maximizing the use of data analysis and advanced statistics. A Silicon Valley atmosphere could invade the corridors of Casa Milan, the club's headquarters.
The goal is to ensure the financial stability of the Rossoneri by relying on a lower-risk economy during the transfer windows, with a sort of imposed salary cap. Hence the separation from Paolo Maldini, who spent over 50 million euros last summer for what was considered relatively modest success. And this change of direction is causing great concern among certain members of the sports management, including the new strong duo composed of Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada, who prefer more traditional methods in negotiations and the development of summer targets. Another key aspect of Gerry Cardinale's project is the future stadium issue, as negotiations to build a stadium (without Inter Milan) in San Donato, a city in the Milan suburbs, have accelerated in recent weeks. Located near one of Milan's gates, this area provides crucial visibility to attract sponsors and enhances Gerry Cardinale's desire to build a true sports hub in honor of the Rossoneri (shops, fields, restaurants, bars, museums, fan experiences...).
AC Milan are very slow in the transfer market window...
No arrivals but numerous rumours. The names linked to the Rossoneri have been plentiful in recent weeks. While the verbal agreement seems to be in place with Daichi Kamada, the official announcement is still pending. Negotiations are still ongoing with Villarreal for Samuel Chukwueze, with Fenerbahçe for the Turkish prodigy Arda Güler, and also with Sassuolo for Davide Frattesi. Inter Milan remains in pole position to secure the services of the Italian midfielder. Thus, the Rossoneri may experience another setback after Marcus Thuram's decision to join the Nerazzurri. While AC Milan has also entered the race for striker Gianluca Scamacca, it is AS Roma that is ahead in the signing of the West Ham striker. Malian international El Bilal Touré is also on Milan's radar, but he is not an absolute priority at the moment, as Almeria is demanding a high price for the sale of their attacker.
The last issue on the table is the Serbian midfielder Lazar Samardžić from Udinese, but once again, the transaction is expected to be complicated as Napoli has been targeting the midfielder for several months, while the player still dreams of the Bundesliga. The sale of Sandro Tonali to Newcastle for a sum of 70 million euros should provide a significant boost in the multiple stalled negotiations with the mentioned players and clubs. But today, AC Milan is searching and moving forward in a thick fog since the clash between Paolo Maldini and Gerry Cardinale. The influence that the Italian legend had among agents, players, clubs, and other institutions seems to have been greatly underestimated by the American owner. A real power struggle has now begun internally as disagreements continue to grow about the direction AC Milan should take. Concerns persist as the weeks go by, with a growing discontent among the fans being increasingly heard.
Taken from: Footmercato.net
