AC Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani once again stressed that Stefano Pioli’s job is safe, while he also commented on the futures of Mike Maignan and Olivier Giroud.
Furlano spoke to Sky just before kick-off in tonight’s Europa League play-off tie between Milan and Stade Rennais at San Siro, with his comments relayed by MilanNews, and he began by addressing the bumper crowd that will be present.
“They are always very warm. We have never won the Europa League and therefore we will try to honour the competition and our fans,” he said.
Even though there are many games left in the season and plenty to fight for on two fronts, there continues to be speculation surrounding the future of Pioli as the head coach, but Furlani insisted he has the faith of the management.
“He is one of the few coaches to have reached 100 victories with the Rossoneri. Pioli has had a fantastic journey. The relationship between the coach and the club is phenomenal. He is solid on our bench.”
There have been some rumblings of discontent over the past week about the plans for Serie A moving forward, with Milan among the top clubs to push for the league being reduced from 20 to 18 teams. Furlani had his say on the direction of the league.
“In Italy football is not treated as an industry and therefore we are unable to be competitive at a European level. We fought our battle on the growth decree, but we lost it.
“There are other rules and laws that put them at a disadvantage compared to the rest of Europe. Without working as a system we will never be able to get back to the top of Europe. This is the sad reality.”
Finally, the CEO was asked about the contract situations of Maignan and Giroud. The former has a deal until 2026 but there are rumours that extension talks are underway, while the latter is on an expiring deal.
“Oli arrived and signed for two years, then he extended for another year because he had done very well. Maybe it’s a little early, but the door is open if he wants to stay.
“Maignan? One of the best goalkeepers in the world, he still has two and a half years left on his contract, we hope he stays with us for a long time.”
