As part of the Rossoneri club's corporate restructuring, the club has already appointed a new Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, effective from last 1 November. He is James Fontanella-Khan, a journalist born in 1983 of clear Italian origins and former US Finance Editor of the Financial Times.
His role, explains Corriere dello Sport, "is very broad: in our technical jargon, he could be described as a general manager. In effect, he is Cardinale's right-hand man in Italy: he deals with communications, politics (he will be the one attending Lega Serie A meetings) and representation, seeking to connect the US-based side of the Rossoneri ownership with Milan's strong Italian roots, in order to restore its true essence and great identity."
Fontanella-Khan was a goalkeeper
An interesting detail about Fontanella-Khan's career is that he grew up in Italy and also played football. In fact, he was a goalkeeper in Piacenza's youth teams, where he played from 1996 to 2000, progressing all the way to the Primavera (Under-19 team).
Interestingly, during that period, he was also a team-mate of Alberto Gilardino, the former AC Milan striker. In the 2000-2001 season, Fontanella-Khan instead played in Serie D with Pavia, before leaving Italy to become a journalist and, now, effectively the general manager of Gerry Cardinale's revamped Milan.
