During the episode of 'Inferno del Lunedì', which is a program on the Milan TV schedule, an exclusive interview was aired with Jovan Kirovski, Sporting Director of the Milan Futuro project, now in his second year with the Rossoneri club.
He gave his first statements in Italian, discussing the current and future plans for Milan’s second team. His full comments were provided from his office at Milanello.
On the ultimate goal of the project:
"I have worked and played in many countries: Germany, England, even the United States. Different cultures, different football. But we are in Italy, and we have a strong culture: the important thing is that we slightly change the process and the mentality. We are here to develop our players. Barcelona or Bayern Munich have their second teams playing in the third or fourth division: what matters is that players play in challenging situations, in Serie C or Serie D with adults. That’s real football for our young players: every match is difficult, and that’s very, very important."
On the purpose of Milan Futuro:
"We also want to win every match, because I believe that at Milan it’s important for our players to experience pressure, because when they get to San Siro, they will play under pressure. But our number one goal is to help them grow. Our example is Bartesaghi: he played in the youth sector, Primavera, Milan Futuro, and then reached the first team, a model for everyone. But we have other examples: Jimenez played in Primavera and Milan Futuro, and then we sold him at a higher level to another club."
On Maximilian Ibrahimovic and other young players sold, Kirovski had this to say:
"Maxi played very well. We had the opportunity for him to play at a higher level, so we transferred him to Ajax. Dutu played last year in Primavera and then in Futuro; we thought it was better for him to move to a higher level (Dinamo Bucharest, ed.). And for Diego Sia it was also better to play at a higher level in Spain (Mirandes, ed.). But our number one goal is the first team."
On the importance of developing Italian talent:
"It’s important that we have young players who are Milan fans and want to play for Milan, and also that we have players coming into Milan. We have many players in the National team that we want to develop technically and tactically. We are an Italian team: Italian players are our top priority. Of course, other international players may arrive, but the number one priority is Italians," as relayed via those at Milan News.
On the relationship with Vincenzo Vergine, Head of the Youth Sector:
"I speak with Vincenzo every day, more than with my wife. It’s important to look at everything together: vision, strategy. We have players training here at Milanello, young players who always play in Primavera, where we are the youngest of all. Surely, we are also the youngest with Milan Futuro. It’s important that we have a clear philosophy and strategy, working all together.”
On the new arrivals in January:
"We worked well with our scouting team. We brought in four different players, all physically strong. Malick Cissè played with Senegal U17 at the World Cup. Also Italians like Sardo and Alphadjo Cissè, super talents. Now the important thing for us is to work with these talents."
