How did they get here from there? The fickle world of football can follow success with pain and then double it. That’s sport. The Rossoneri knows this all too well. While Inter look forward to a second Champions League final in three years while striving to defend their Serie A title, Milan can only dream of their superior European heritage. Domestically, their league season lies in tatters.
Inter were runaway winners of the Scudetto last year, but at least Milan were in the rear-view mirror. In this campaign, the 19-time winners have stalled the car and been lapped. Those pre-season wins over Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid in the United States didn’t amount to anything other than a tin cup. They will have to cling to that dramatic Super Cup final win over their neighbours in January for some solace.
Losses are in double figures, and manager Sérgio Conceição is expected to leave in the summer. The manager has had his fair share of problems and took responsibility for several games where Milan have conceded in the early stages. His recruitment of Joao Felix from Chelsea in the new year also bombed, but the horrid elimination from Europe’s top-tier competition was a mortal blow.
The Champions League betting markets had the Red and Blacks as strong favourites over two legs in a play-off against Arne Slot’s former team, Feyenoord, but the defeat shone a light on the background chaos of management and board.
It has been reported that Milan management is divided into different camps, a sure sign that things on the pitch is often a reflection of the lack of unity behind the scenes. Milan’s owners, Red Bird Capital Group, have had the finger pointed at them for some controversial decisions. When Zlatan Ibrahimović joined the club as senior adviser he boomed: “I am the boss and I am in charge, all the others work for me."
The legendary striker’s style has apparently burnt the fingers of CEO Giorgio Furlani, who felt he had to say out loud: “All decisions pass through me” before a game against Lazio. The relationship between the fiery Swede and Furlani has been on the edge for some time, exacerbated by the search for a new sporting director.
While the CEO and board preferred Fabio Paratici for his experience of big club environments at Juve and Tottenham, Ibrahimović only had eyes for his close friend Igli Tare. It now transpires that there might not be a new sporting director at all if the latest comments from the CEO ahead of the Coppa Italia final against Bologna are taken at face value. It’s the chaos that keeps coming.
On the pitch, the problems have leaked from the very top with two of the stalwarts of the team receiving a fair amount of vitriol from the press. Former skipper Theo Hernandez was widely blamed for the Champions League exit after his red card, but his season has been described as disastrous by Gazzetta. Rafael Leao has been accused of not applying himself to any defensive work.
The duo were described as “dead weight” by the same newspaper, and a lack of conditioning across the squad has also made the headlines. Fans can put up with defeats and setbacks, but they will not accept a lack of industry in the team.
There was also reports of a tetchy relationship with the previous manager, Paulo Fonseca, who was sacked in December. The excessive wage demands of Hernandez only exacerbate the current mood because the Rossoneri had the second most expensive squad assembled in terms of transfer fees and yet they are miles off it.
Milan will want to get something for Hernandez to provide funds for new investment. The full back could leave on a free in 2026, so there will surely be an opportunity to get some market value alongside Fikayo Tomori who has endured a campaign full of errors. They will also need a prime forward after Alvaro Morata was loaned out to Galatasaray and Tammy Abraham’s loan has led to a meagre return.
If Milan want to return to the top table of domestic and European football, they need unity from top to bottom, a strong vision, and to rediscover the hard work ethic of a big club.
In 2023, they announced preliminary plans to move out of the San Siro, which hasn’t been modernised since the 1990 World Cup. The stadium has stagnated and so has the team. There’s trouble at the top and Milan will have to find a coherent plan to quash the background noise, balance the books, and make the club’s health a priority over big egos.
