CEO Giorgio Furlani has spoken out about the exit of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara from their roles at AC Milan, and also looked ahead to what he believes if a bright future.
Yesterday, Tuesday 6 June, Milan communicated that Maldini will no longer be continuing in his role as the technical director of the Rossoneri, with an official announcement expected today saying that Massara will leave his post as sporting director too.
Based on the widespread reports that are circulating, the ownership are not looking at an external hire to fill the void left by the departure of the duo and instead will give more power to Furlani and chief scout Geoffrey Moncada.
Now, Furlani – who was made the CEO last year after Ivan Gazidis left the position – was interviewed by La Gazzetta dello Sport and attempted to reassure Milan fans about the future.
“First of all, I want to thank Paolo and Ricky and express the gratitude of all Milan collaborators for their significant contribution to the club over the years,” he said.
“Paolo was among the greatest players ever and as manager, together with Ricky, he played an important role in achieving our 19th Scudetto. We are sorry to see them go.
“In our club we constantly analyse the most suitable strategies and models to ensure that Milan can continue to progress on and off the pitch, to compete with the leading teams in Europe. The first fundamental element, I always repeat it is, and will remain, football.
“Precisely with this objective in mind, we have decided on an organisational reorganisation which leads to the creation of a working group for the technical/sporting part. Our priority now is to consolidate and reinforce the progress made over the last few years, across all parts of the club.
“Our ambition hasn’t changed, on the contrary it has strengthened: to be competitive at the top of European football. We are on the right track, but there is still a lot of work to do.
“I hope that our wonderful fans can keep their support for the club intact and constant, and I personally hope to be able to interact with our fans soon, so that they can understand our strategy, to continue together to see Milan grow.”
