A.C. Milan will not be getting Andoni Iraola after all: his move from AFC Bournemouth to Milan has collapsed. The Basque coach who led the small club from southern England into the Europa League posted a farewell video today through the club’s social media channels, and that much was expected. But in Premier League circles, his move, likely to be announced as early as tomorrow, to Crystal Palace F.C. is now being treated as certain. Palace, who are currently playing the Conference League final (leading 1-0 as of this moment against Spanish side Rayo Vallecano in the 73rd minute), will also be saying goodbye to manager Oliver Glasner, in what will be his final match in charge of the Eagles.
Iraola had also been approached in recent weeks by other clubs: Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Germany, S.L. Benfica in Portugal, and Crystal Palace in the Premier League. The latter immediately emerged as Milan’s main rival. In early-2000s football, no manager would ever have hesitated between Milan and the team that finished fifteenth in the most recent Premier League table, but the world has changed. Iraola is not convinced by the Milan challenge, a highly complicated project that would need to be built from scratch with a new management structure, new players, and in a league he has never worked in before.
Crystal Palace, on the other hand, offers him the chance to continue working in the Premier League, avoid relocating his family from England, and enter the transfer market with an ambitious budget. In the Basque Country, Iraola’s homeland, reports this morning even claimed that Palace’s transfer budget would be three times larger than Milan’s. That figure still needs to be verified, but it is certainly not impossible given the financial power Premier League clubs possess in the transfer market.
To be completely certain about Iraola’s choice, we will definitely have to wait until tonight, when Crystal Palace play the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig. Glasner, Palace’s manager, has already made it known that he will not continue at the club and could also become a candidate for the Milan bench. By tomorrow, there should be more certainty, writes Gazzetta.it.
