Contours of RedBird's Milan emerge [Newsletter]
It’s been over a week since AC Milan parted ways with Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara. A lot has happened in those nine days and it’s been hard to decipher what news is relevant, but at least the contours of RedBird’s plan for the club are now visible to the fans.
Last week was a tough one in many ways. First the goodbye of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has meant so much for the club, and then the goodbye of Maldini, who has meant even more for the club. Naturally, there were many different emotions among the fans in the days following.
At the very least, we can now start to see the contours of RedBird and Gerry Cardinale’s plan for Milan. The way Maldini was escorted out of the club was unworthy, without a doubt, and this will always remain a dark stain on the reign of the American businessman. We cannot afford to dwell over it, though.
If the focus with Maldini and Massara was a mixture of young and experienced players, the feeling is that the focus now mainly will be on young players. Experienced players might arrive, but most likely only on free transfers as Cardinale has made it very clear that the balance sheet must be respected (read our bonus to understand how the balance sheet works).
Daichi Kamada is the perfect example. Milan are still continuing the negotiations with his entourage and the Japanese international is expected to join the club, his agents just need to sort out some bureaucratic issues. He’s not ‘young’ at 26, but he’s available on a free transfer and will thus fit the project.
We mentioned it in last week’s newsletter, but it’s worth stating again that Geoffrey Moncada indeed has been promoted. The chief scout has been doing a lot of work on the mercato just in the last week, and he was also involved a lot when Maldini was still at the club, but this is a big step up as we predicted on June 2.
Moncada’s promotion is perhaps the biggest indication of Milan’s focus: young and cheap players. Cardinale wants to increase revenue by consistently qualifying for the Champions League, building a new stadium, securing new sponsorships and pushing for better TV deals in Italy. He’s in it for the long run, with the stadium expected to be finished in 2028 or 2029, and a sustainable plan has thus been put into place on all fronts. For the fans, this is most noticeable on the mercato, of course.
News bulletin
➤ The tributes have poured in from far and wide for Silvio Berlusconi, who passed away at the age of 86. We have looked back at what he meant to Milan, some of his best quotes and we even attempted to name a best XI from his tenure.
➤ The bracket for the 2023-24 edition of the Coppa Italia has been pretty much confirmed due to the way the seeding works, and Milan could meet their rivals Inter in the semi-finals.
➤ One of the areas the new management are looking to address is the right wing position, and some positive news came after a meeting with the agents of Villarreal's Samuel Chukwueze.
➤ Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe has once again proclaimed himself to be a fan of AC Milan, joking about how it is ‘hard’ to speak well of rivals Inter and paying tribute to Silvio Berlusconi.
➤ Brahim Diaz has closed the door on his chapter at Milan, thanking the club for the memories shared and what he learned while on loan, but also admitting a return to Real Madrid was always his priority.
➤ Milan seem to have set about finding a replacement for Brahim and Lazar Samardzic's name has returned, with suggestions that the 'Moneyball' algorithm being used put his name forward. Meanwhile, Thiago Almada has also been linked.
In case you missed it
Make sure to check out the latest podcast episode, as well as the latest bonus podcast (only available on Substack!). You can also read our latest bonus article, which is an updated summary of the San Donato area.
Dang im sorry