Carlo Paolo Festa, journalist and finance editor at 'Il Sole 24 Ore', gave an exclusive interview to MilanNews.it, focusing on some administrative and financial issues related to Milan.
Cardinale has settled the debt with Elliott, but the Chief Executive Officer has remained the same person who was previously under Elliott’s ownership, Giorgio Furlani. In your opinion, is this a practice that can be considered normal?
"My impression is that Furlani will remain as CEO of Milan next year as well, because Cardinale is not so interested in results as much as in the financial management of the team. In this, Furlani has been very good. Sporting results are relatively important to Cardinale, and therefore I believe the managers will not change. There is this continuity of managers who were once part of Elliott within Milan’s executive structure, and the fact that he has never replaced anyone is somewhat of a question mark, because when a new shareholder arrives, some managers are usually changed. In this case, he has not changed anyone," as relayed via Milan News.
"Furlani is certainly doing an excellent job as a manager from a cost-control perspective. If this were a company in any other sector, not sport-related, he would even be rewarded. The problem is that it is not another sector. In football and sport, if you do not win, you do not achieve results. Sporting performance is just as important as financial performance. And in Milan’s case, there is only financial performance. And, as I keep saying, it is not a bank: it is the owner of a private equity fund, and it is not true that private equity funds do not win in football."
