The first dinner as the new sporting director of Milan.
Igli Tare can enjoy, at the same table with CEO Giorgio Furlani and sporting director Geoffrey Moncada, the conclusion of an intense and emotional day, which saw him put his signature on the contract that will bind him to the Rossoneri club for the upcoming seasons.
Gathered in a well-known Milanese hotel, Tare and the other two executives took the opportunity to continue the discussions that had already taken place in recent days and even in the past few hours, at the Casa Milan headquarters, regarding the first strategies to implement in the transfer market.
The most pressing issue is clearly that of the coach. To date, it is worth remembering that Milan currently has Sergio Conceiçao under contract, who last December—when he took over from the dismissed Paulo Fonseca—signed a contract until June 2026. However, within that agreement there is a clause in favor of the club allowing early termination if the conditions from both parties to continue together are not met. In this sense, having served a suspension against Monza (due to the expulsion in the previous match against Roma), the Portuguese coach has not yet spoken, neither privately nor publicly, about his future or the evaluations of the 5 months he spent on Milan’s bench.
The new sporting director Tare will therefore have among his first tasks the confrontation with Conceiçao and the reaching of a mutual decision, with all signs pointing to a separation.
Thus begins the hunt for his successor, with the Albanian executive having already established direct contact in recent days with Massimiliano Allegri, a profile he particularly appreciates but who is currently in pole position to succeed Antonio Conte as Napoli’s coach (and who is also being watched closely by Inter should Simone Inzaghi decide to leave after the Champions League final).
The former Juventus coach and Vincenzo Italiano, increasingly close to renewing his contract with Bologna, are the first names on Milan’s list, but these are very complicated tracks that risk putting the Rossoneri in an uncomfortable position.
Among the alternative plans that have emerged in recent days are those involving two coaches currently without a job and looking for a new challenge. We are talking about Roberto Mancini, inactive since last October when he was relieved of his duties as Saudi Arabia’s national team coach and who in recent months was also an option for Roma and Juventus, and Thiago Motta. The latter is an old Milan favorite, who was considered for replacing Pioli at the end of last season but never made the move, clearing the way for Juventus instead. The Italian-Brazilian coach remains tied to the Juventus club until 2027 and, until then, will receive what remains of the total €15 million salary agreed upon at signing.
Finally, attention to the name of Gian Piero Gasperini. With the clear indication from Milan’s management to preferably go for an Italian coach or at least one with a deep knowledge of Serie A, the delicate situation created in Bergamo between the Piedmontese coach and the Atalanta ownership deserves to be monitored.
The words he gave after the last league match against Parma (“For the first time I will have to lower the expectations bar, I don’t know if this will be accepted. A confrontation with the club will be necessary”) irritated the Atalanta top management considerably and the contract renewal proposal until 2027 risks being frozen. Should the imminent summit between the parties lead to a break, it is not to be excluded that Milan might consider him.
Source: Calciomercato.com
