AC Milan fan and investor Riccardo Silva believes that the club ‘have a dream team of executives’ in Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada.
MilanNews are among the reliable sources reporting that Gerry Cardinale has decided to fire Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara from their position as technical and sporting director respectively.
It brings the end of an era at the club and now there are question marks about what the future holds under RedBird Capital and what the plans are for who succeeds the two directors and whether it will be an internal or external hire.
SempreMilan spoke with Riccardo Silva who is a minority shareholder in AC Milan as well as the owner of Miami FC to get his take on the stories circulating.
Things at Milan seem a bit chaotic at the moment…
“No, no I wouldn’t call it chaos. It’s just a change. I only speak as a fan and as an investor, not as a representative of AC Milan. First, I think Paolo Maldini is a legend, he’s amazing, he represents AC Milan on and off the pitch,” he said.
“I think he did great in these five years as a football executive so we must thank him, he will always be AC Milan regardless of if he is at the club or not. Of course, everybody knows what Maldini is, and I think he did a great job and he will always be loved by Milan fans.
“I think he was great also in the front office, he did a great job, and we must all thank him. He’s a great man, he was a great player and a great executive.
“At the same time, if Gerry Cardinale thinks this is the right time for a change, we trust him. Things can change, things can evolve.
“I want to also say we have a good team in the front office at Milan, especially Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada, that we must also be aware of. We have a dream team in our front office.
“Furlani is one of the top three football executives in the world in my opinion, and he was super important in the Elliott period to grow the club, to clean up the accounts that were horrible after Yonghong Li’s ownership.
“At the same time improving the performance on the pitch and bringing us the Scudetto, so he already proved on the Elliott side how good he is and he’s proving it now as the CEO of Milan.
“Another part of this dream team is Moncada. He is one of the best kept secrets at AC Milan. He is one of the top scouts in the world, also on the rise. I think he can handle more and more important positions.
“So, Paolo Maldini is a legend, a great ex-player and he proved to be a great executive in his five years at Milan and we must thank him forever, and we will see him as a symbol of AC Milan forever whether he is at the club or not.
“At the same time, we have a dream team of executives in Furlani and Moncada, so we are not only in great hands but we have among the best executives in the world so we must be optimistic about the future and improving more and more.
“If Gerry Cardinale thought it was the right time for a change, we trust him.”
Was the possibility not there for Maldini and Massara to continue as part of this ‘dream team’? Differences in opinion and strategy happen in football, were they just too great to continue together?
“I don’t want to step into these details, I just think things can evolve and if Gerry Cardinale thought it was the right time for a change, we trust him.
“Again, Maldini was and is great, but we have other executives who are among the best in the world, so we have to be optimistic.”
Based on what you said about Furlani and Moncada, it will be internal promotions to fill the void and there won’t be anyone coming from outside?
“I cannot comment on this, I just say we have fantastic people in our club already and they can all do a fantastic job. We must be aware of this, because I don’t think this was observed enough by Milan fans and also by the media.
“Of course, Paolo Maldini is Paolo Maldini, he is a symbol of football around the world, but at the same time maybe most Milan fans aren’t fully aware of how good Furlani and Moncada are.
“They are among the top, the very best, each one in their own expertise. We must be happy and optimistic. I think RedBird are doing a great job, so I am very optimistic about the future.
“We have done great in the past couple of years, and we can do great in the future.”
Milan can’t be better without Maldini
#Cardinaleout
#redbirdout
Stop over reacting. Calm down. Moncada has been on point with his scoring even if Maldini hasn’t always listened to him. Wait and see how the summer plays out.
CDK come from his scouting.
We doesnt need to trust or believe cardinale he hasnt earned our trust yet and unlikely ever will and the takeover caused huge issues in last years mercato and it seems to happen again this season,
Maldini on the other hand has earned our trust and love decades ago and has proven to be a great executive later on.
Cardinale has done squat and desserves our disbelief after he pretty mucgh backstabbed our greatest club legend ever.
Cardinale adalah investor pelit, yg hanya memgejarkeuntungan taoi tifak mencintai milan..semoga dia cepatangkatkaki dari milan, dan milan kembali ke investor arab atau dari italia sendiri
I hope he leaves quickly as well.
Trust him? He sacked the symbol of this club and the DNA it represents in his first year at helm like he means nothing.
You all need to stop crying. Maldini was an amazing player but poor as a sporting director. He made many bad moves – let Donna and Kassie leave for free which was a terrible work. That’s like $100 million wasted. He was calling out the management for not spending enough but he didn’t do much to bring in money from smart moves – instead he let two stars leave for free, signed Origi for 4 million per season while passing on Dybala at 3.5 million per season. He signed Ibra who is 40 years old and constantly injured now and now he was trying to sign Arnutovich who is passed his prime. Not even going to mention CDK who Maldini wasted $35 million on. All in all, Maldini could have had around $140 million available if he made smarter moves.
With that said, he is a legend and always will be but business is business and obviously Cardinale didn’t like his work. He is the owner and has every right to decide who works for him. I believe it will be a good change and will benefit Milan big time.
He won the best manager in serie a last season but sure he must be bad because you says so and all clubs has hits and misses in the market.
It’s not that I said so – it’s what Cardinale said – he is the boss and he decides what goes. He obviously knows better than any of us.
” Maldini was an amazing player but poor as a sporting director”
Even if Maldini made some mistakes as director. The worry is him leaving will either destabilise the dressing room, or possibly influence players loyal to him (like Theo) to leave.
This wasn’t just any director, he was a club legend one of the greatest defenders ever. Its possible it will have no effect and hopefully the club goes forward in a smart manner.
But… I fear Cardinale is looking to make us the next spurs, ie financially stable without challenging for honours. A profitable business without truly aiming for the top on the pitch.
We’ll see in time I guess.
Bro, this person believes Maldini decided how much his salary ceiling was to renew our players….pure trolling tool…don’t waste your breath on him
You are propably right but truth be told i stopped reading after the first line he wrote 😀
Letting Kessie goes for free is a good move as he help securing the scudetto in his last year. If we sold him earlier, we might not get scudetto.
Letting $umma goes for free is also a good move, we get rid of his horrible feet and high wages, nobody want to sign him with a fee anyway. Maldini actually shoved him out by signing Maignan before he decided to leave.
Both are brave moves that won the scudetto for Milan, the lost money are the cost of scudetto.
Those brave moves cost Milan tons of money but yeah, ego prevailed and now Maldini is gone. SMH
Your analysis is pointless. Are you aware there is a wage cap. If the ownership does not release funds how will the players renew. Ibra’s impact was confessed by all the team. Tonali and Leao struggled in their first season. It’s normal there will be ups and downs in the performance of new recruits in their first season. You re here talking about sales, will you be happy if Maldini sold Theo or Leao? Are we building a team or turning into a selling club.I believe he was going in for Arnautovic because of the reportedly small budget so he can save more funds to strengthen other positions. Maldini was only working in the interest of the fans and team. Some fans suck on this platform.
Dybala at 3.5m ? You mean more like 13.5m because that’s what he earns incl bonuses at Roma 🤷♂️
I cant always be correcting misinformation. Does t mean also I do t disagree with the Origi transfer. That was terrible. And Kessie and Dollaruma were never going to re-sign or be sold for that matter
Real life is not like Fifa. If Milan signed Donnaruma with 12M/per year salary as demanded along with his shitty brother for another 1 or 2m per year with all the signing bonuses, no one would have bought him the following season. Just like Neymar, that guy is still valuable, but no one would pay that much salary to him. Even some clubs agree they will not pay any transfer fee. Milan tried to ship Kessie in January, but Kessie wanted Barca, who did not have money for transfer but just the salary. The management set a 6m salary cap rule, not Maldini. It is a wonder how he got so many renewals done within this cap. Moncada could be a hit to get talented players, but he will not have an impact on the dressing room and on players like Maldini. Just think how much some players with limited ability performed with proper backing. How much has this team over-achieved over the last two seasons?
You missed lots of points
Regarding Donna n Kessie – its not just about salary, but also other costs such as bonuses and agent fees. Donna’s agent Mino Raiola demanded 20mil agent fees PER SEASON for Donnarumma to renew. Did you know about that??
And he only wanted 2 years contract max.
Ibra? You only see him as injury prone 40yo,but Guess what?? That same 40 year injury prone guy is responsible for bringing back winning mentality to the squad. And he also the driving force that brings the best out of Leao (that’s why Leao ran to the bench and hug Ibra after scoring a goal in the match against Verona)
Dybala?? Just because a player available for free doesn’t means they costs cheaper. Free players command higher wages, bonuses and agent fees.
That’s the case for Origi and the same can happen to Dybala (and other free agents) should we go ahead and sign him.
Origi?? Had the owners granted larger budget then maybe we could get a better striker than Origi.
Redbird allocated 50Mil for last summer transfer budget. But then come December changed his stance stating that the 50Mil was for the whole season including the winter transfer.
CDK – if you say that CDK was a waste then the same should apply to Leao & Tonali!!
They were in their early 20s when they join Milan – just like CDK
Milan paid a huge sum for them – just like CDK.
They were average in their first season with Milan – just like CDK.
CDK is only a matter of time, not wasted money. Even De bruyne was trush at Chelsea.
The sad thing is Maldini no longer the director when his signing (CdK) succeed.
Pretty normal as we saw Leao and Sandro going through the same situation.
Moncada staying is a good thing, he is a good scout and has good data/network, but without Maldini’s charm, who will convince the player to come? Furlani? It’s not his expertise.
Furlani is the one that pushed Leao’s reveal over the line.
Moncada is Milan’s last hope.
He was the 3rd M of success.
Unfortunately though, having Cardinale as owner…. a fool,who hasn’t a clue about football and Milan, won’t get us far…
Focus on building a new stadium meanwhile he forgot performance on the pitch brings sponsorship and fans to the stadium. Why not improve team first and focus on building the stadium later
This is just the Anerican way, this is how they treat coach’s, players, employees etc. Every new owner want his people in charge which is fine but they could of let Maldini walk away on his own.. but as I said I the US that’s how its done… not much respect all buisness
Hold up.
Wasn’t this guy a Maldini personal friend and business partner?
I want to know from where this “dream team” comes from this shareholder. I respect the fact that he knows a but about football being a shareholder but to state Moncada and Furlani are a dream team is over the top to say the least. Moncada is an excellent scout, but being a technical director or being key in the mercato is a different pond and IMO out of his league currently. Furlani maybe is a great executive, but looks like his football knowledge is limited. To be successful, you don’t need to know all, you need to know who knows all and put them in charge. For me this is a huge mistake specially the way this was handled, a total circus. A legend deserves respect, respect earned on and off the field. Not really optimistic about Milan’s future TBH
If cardinale was smart, which clearly he isn’t, he’d have pushed Maldini into another role in the club…then again cardinals is a compete and utter banker
I think that letting Maldini go isn’t a bad idea. Look at Inter they were in our position, now they have a strong team they don’t spend that much. If they can get someone like Beppe Motta Milan will have a strong team in Italy.
It’s frustrating that Maldini has generated money through sell.
Bro Inter is 390m in debt. Yes they spend so they have a technically better team than us… technically…though they’re only a couple points ahead of us. Money buys you quality but there’s also FFP which means they now have to sell said quality or risk not playing in Europe.
Who is this? Looks like an interview with Gerry’s loyal companion.
Co-owner of Miami FC and current Milan shareholder.
People don’t understand Maldini is more than a sporting director. He is the face and the soul of the club. His value is more than any dollar amount you can put on it.
My 40 years as Milan supporter are over.
An arrogant USA guy will never conquer my heart, as Maldini did in the past 30 years.
Over. No one single penny of my pocket will go into those soulless “investors”.
They just don’t understand “calcio”.
Whoever replace maldini, i hope he brings a big signing to show that milan still want to challenge for scudetto and also to win the fans back.
Marco you’re too dramatic. Don’t huff & puff. Your support is to these colors and the team. Not the ownership group. So support the TEAM. You didn’t stop supporting Milan after Berlusconi sold to Go knows who. But ure gonna stop supporting now??? LOL!!! Yeah ok.
This is a child’s point of view. The “team” is not just the players, it’s the entire organization, it’s the atmosphere, its how you go about things, it’s everything and it started to change with Elliot and is continuing to change with Redbird. We may win things but victory without meaning is pointless. Calcio is the best league because of the heart and passion, while Gerry boy just sees money.
Cardinale makes me feel that we are just going to be a soulless American money machine.. not why I fell in love with this game. But as usual everything always gets ruined when too much money gets involved. Guy is a dirtbag, #Cardinaleout
This is a child’s point of view. The “team” is not just the players, it’s the entire organization, it’s the atmosphere, its how you go about things, it’s everything and it started to change with Elliot and is continuing to change with Redbird. We may win things but victory without meaning is pointless. Calcio is the best league because of the heart and passion, while Gerry boy just sees money.
Oh great.. Another Cardinale Bootlicker. Lol
Dream team? Furlani? LMFAO The guy is an ACCOUNTANT. Is this bootlicker saying Furlani was the reason behind all the wage caps that costed us our players leaving for free? That would explain A LOT Of things actually.
i do have respect for Moncada though. He is the best in business. If he is in charge then maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. But Cardinale pretty much lost the respect of ALL Milan Fans.
I am not going to attend any of Milan games till Cardinale and Pioli gtfo (30+ years Milan fan.)
#RedBirdOut
#CardinaleAsshole
#ACMilanNotBussnies
#MilanIsMaldini
#MaldiniIsMilan
I think we should not hate what we don’t understand, Maldini is a great legend and don’t forget this is a business. We just have to trust the process and keep supporting the Team.