The meeting between Milan and Ralf Rangnick did take place. In recent hours, the German coach — soon to begin his World Cup experience as Austria’s national team manager — had direct talks with owner Gerry Cardinale and his close associates Zlatan Ibrahimović and Massimo Calvelli. Milan presented its proposal, and Rangnick laid down his conditions: he wants full control. There will be another update soon, because neither side can afford to drag things out for too long. Meanwhile, the Austria manager has already suggested a list of candidates for the bench.
Milan meets Rangnick:
In recent hours, as confirmed this morning by the Corriere dello Sport, Milan met with Ralf Rangnick, the current Austria coach who managed to lead the country back to the World Cup after 28 years. The German is the man Ibrahimović and Cardinale want as director of Milan’s technical area. However, the conditions set by Rangnick are fairly significant: he wants complete freedom over everything concerning the club’s technical and sporting operations. The 1958-born manager wants to choose both the sporting director and the head coach without interference. In other words, Rangnick wants to build “his” Milan. This would clearly require Ibrahimović and the ownership in general to give him space without any kind of intrusion. The parties will meet again shortly: Milan needs to conclude matters quickly, while Rangnick is about to begin preparations for the World Cup.
Rangnick's names for the Milan coaching job
Bringing Rangnick to Milan would require a great deal of flexibility from the ownership and especially from Ibrahimović. Above all, it would demand excellent organisation: if things truly proceed as the German coach wants, it will be necessary to understand who will run operations during the World Cup period. Rangnick will be occupied with Austria at least until 28 June, and even longer if the team progresses beyond the group stage, while Zlatan will be busy throughout the tournament because of his role as a commentator. Therefore, Milan would need to appoint both a sporting director and a coach immediately, giving them clear instructions on how to proceed, as relayed via Milannews.it.
In the meantime, Rangnick has already proposed his shortlist of candidates for Milan’s bench. The first name is Matthias Jaissle, the 38-year-old currently at Al-Ahli Saudi FC, where he coaches Franck Kessié and has won two Asian Champions Leagues. He was coached by Rangnick and crossed paths with him during his early managerial years at FC Red Bull Salzburg. Another possibility not to be ruled out is Oliver Glasner, another German coach and the recent winner of the Conference League with Crystal Palace F.C., whom he has transformed over the past three years. Finally, the idea of Mauricio Pochettino is also gaining ground, although he did not encourage the rumours yesterday. He too will be involved in the World Cup.
