Milan have been looking for several weeks for a new executive figure who can work closely with owner Gerry Cardinale and support Ruben Amorim on a daily basis. The search began after the dismissal of Giorgio Furlani and Igli Tare last May, but during the summer the Rossoneri were unable to finalise a deal with Markus Krösche, the leading candidate to become Milan's new executive, mainly because Eintracht Frankfurt wanted to keep him at the club.
However, since Sunday evening, things have changed, because Krösche has resigned and is once again in talks with Milan. Contacts are ongoing, and in Germany they are confident that everything could be resolved by the end of this week, both from an economic point of view and regarding his responsibilities within the Milan club.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the executive delivered an emotional farewell after the board meeting in Frankfurt: "I can only say thank you for five extremely exciting years."
The first issue to overcome concerns a clause that Milan could pay to Eintracht to release the executive from his contract. In fact, Krösche is tied to the Frankfurt club until June 30, 2028, and to secure his release Milan would have to pay €4–5 million. The two clubs will have to discuss this matter in the coming hours.
Then there would also be the issue concerning Krösche's working team, specifically sporting director Timmo Hardung, his right-hand man and trusted associate. Eintracht, however, would like to keep Hardung to have him take over precisely the role left vacant by Krösche.
So who will be the new sporting director working alongside him?
Several names are being mentioned, and the leads point towards Portugal. One of them is Tiago Pinto, currently an executive at Bournemouth, Milan's next opponents in the Europa League, and a former Roma executive. Other rumours point to Boto of Flamengo, as relayed via Corriere dello Sport in this morning's print edition.
Organisation
Therefore, in these hours, efforts are being made to define the internal organisation of Krösche's working group, overcome a few remaining bureaucratic and financial obstacles, and then finalise everything, provided there are no unexpected twists, as happened during the summer.
After that, the new Head of Football will immediately have to deal with the January transfer market and how to organise the Rossoneri's strengthening campaign.
Ideally, he would have two months to prepare for the reopening of the transfer window, in order to sign players in the areas most in need of reinforcement. The focus will certainly be on defence, but also on midfield and attack. This could be Krösche's first test at Milan.
Krösche's most interesting signings:
His résumé is full of players bought for little money and resold for large sums, precisely what the RedBird fund is looking for.
Among his most notable deals is Kolo Muani, signed on a free transfer from Nantes and sold to PSG for €95 million, or Marmoush, sold to City for €75 million, with the German club once again recording the entire amount as a capital gain. Ekitiké, meanwhile, was sold to Liverpool for almost €100 million, and these are just some of the most famous deals completed by Krösche.
