AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has given an interesting interview in which he attempted to explain the sacking of Paolo Maldini as well as the plans of the ownership moving forward.
Scaroni was interviewed by Corriere della Sera and – after Giorgio Furlani’s brief comments to La Gazzetta dello Sport yesterday – he has become the latest member of the management to try and shed light on what exactly the vision is.
His comments were relayed by SempreMilan.it, starting with some words for his former colleague Maldini and an explanation as to why the parties felt the need to separate.
“Where do I start? From the fact that all of us, and I in particular, have always had excellent relations with Paolo Maldini, who is a gentleman, a person attached to Milan and who has done well for Milan,” he said.
“However, we follow a bit of an innovative model, at least for Italy, for club management. We work in a team. It is an organisational model that is very dear to our shareholder [Cardinale] who, let us remember, is a sports specialist who boasts success in his activities.
“When he suggests something to us we pay great attention, because we think it brings innovations. In this organisation we had the impression that Paolo felt uncomfortable, and when one is uncomfortable it is better to part ways.
“I’ll give you an example that concerns myself. I was very dedicated to the new stadium matter, so much that there were those who called me ‘Stadioni’ and not Scaroni. True, but I did it mostly in the Elliott years.
“When RedBird arrived, which has experts who have built stadiums all over the world, it came natural for me to join the team and lose that autonomous role. It’s a bit like what should have happened for the technical area.
“RedBird and we all want Milan to continue this growth. I don’t forget that I started being president in a dramatic moment. You recall that I always said that we had two mountains to climb, bankruptcy and sporting results.
“Now we’re not at the top but we’ve come a long way indeed I would say that in Italy we are among those who have done the most.
“We want to continue to scale, always keeping in mind that more revenues lead to more investments for the sporting area and more sporting successes lead to more revenues: a virtuous circle to be set in motion.
“In the meantime, let me remind you that in four years we have invested more than the others. Some will always say it’s not good enough but our shareholders have allowed us to build a strong team and we will continue along this path together.
“I think we will have to make some sales and complete some significant signings: we are ambitious.
“Who will take care of the market? It will be in the hands of a team that integrates different skills, with CEO Giorgio Furlani who also has the sports area to coordinate with, together with professionals such as Geoffrey Moncada and coach Pioli.
“We expect him to have his say in these choices. In addition to the international experts of RedBird.”
Scaroni was asked if Maldini’s name and his place in the history of football had a certain weight when it came to negotiating with transfer targets.
“This is very true and I am very grateful to him. I have to say that today, and it is not to sound ungrateful, we need it less. Milan having come out of the management of Yonghong Li was struggling to attract talent.
“I think that Milan – who won the Scudetto and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League – are more attractive.”
The president was also questioned regarding the rumours that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be contacted over a return to the club as a possible link between the squad and the management.
“I have the impression that he wants to take a sabbatical period. Then he remains a friend, a person to whom we owe a lot, because in the most difficult moments he allowed us to make a breakthrough. If ideas come to him we will be the first to listen to them.”
Some players have made their voices heard. Yacine Adli published a clear message on his Instagram, while Rafael Leao posted a cryptic yet telling video and then a more heartfelt thank you, with other players also posting tributes.
“It seems natural to me. On the other hand, they are professionals that are used to change, they will understand that this is done with the idea of doing better. We will explain it to them. Then they will rightfully remain linked to Maldini.”
Finally, Scaroni responded to the notion that part of the disagreement over plans to the future was because Maldini wanted to sack head coach Stefano Pioli.
“If Maldini wanted to sack Pioli? I don’t want to express myself on the idea of Pioli’s sacking. But Pioli is absolutely central to this project.”
In the end Redbird having paid to buy the club can choose to operate as they wish but things could have been handled differently, even though Paolo is a larger then life figure , M&M could have been gradually phased out especially Maldini who is also a legend with very strong ties to the team ,the fans and the Milan brand around the world.
Where there mistakes ? Sure ,but they deserved this summer mercato to fix things as on the whole the good by far outweighed the bad and they deserved that chance. Ultimately , treating a patriarch like that is damaging to Redbird and the club in all levels.
Cardinale ,by doing this has set the bar high and it remains to be seen if the team improves or not .. it might have been a change for the better but the way they dealt with Paolo was disrespectful and Redbird might go on to regret it.
Cardinale have an interview saying he expected their resignations. It’s pretty clear that the RedBird had a strategy to integrate football operations and Maldini wanted total control or none at all. We love Paolo but let us be honest and say that he may have been the one who was unreasonable. Cardinale strikes me as someone very adept in optics. He would have preferred M&M to step down but they left him with no choice it seems.
LOL. read below mate
“…… I have to say that today, and it is not to sound ungrateful, we need it (Maldini to attract players) less. Milan having come out of the management of Yonghong Li was struggling to attract talent.
“I think that Milan – who won the Scudetto and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League – are more attractive.”
Who help you winning the Scudetto and reaching the semi-finals of CL?!
Karma will come after you, back- stabbing perfidy!
In the end Redbird having paid to buy the club can choose to operate as they wish but things could have been handled differently, even though Paolo is a larger then life figure , M&M could have been gradually phased out especially Maldini who is a club legend with very strong ties to the team ,the fans and the Milan brand around the world.
Where there mistakes ? Sure ,but they deserved this summer mercato to fix things, as on the whole the good by far outweighed the bad and they deserved that chance. Ultimately , treating a patriarch like that is damaging to Redbird and the club in all levels.
Cardinale ,by doing this has set the bar high and it remains to be seen if the team improves or not .. it might have been a change for the better but the way they dealt with Paolo was disrespectful and Redbird might go on to regret it.
From the looks of it, Paolo Maldini wasn’t someone who plays well with others.
It’s not about the teamwork, it’s about broken promise from the renewal last year. He was promised autonomy and then that autonomy was taken from him. Obviously, that makes him uncomfortable.
What? He asked for autonomy
And He got autonomy last summer.
He became power hungry
Didn’t listen to the scout recommendation on Kolo Muani and Enzo, instead decided to sign Origi and chase Renato Sanches.
He didn’t consult with the coach on what players to be signed and you can tell that by how much or how little Pioli used the players Maldini gave him.
He tanked the summer market after he asked for power and of course that power will be taken away from you if you fail as bad as he did.
I never heard Kolo Muani story last summer.
Enzo already signed for Benfica when Maldini renew at Milan.
He get autonomy last summer, he lost autonomy this summer as Cardinale changed the format into a team. What’s wrong with that statement? I stand corrected.
And Origi was already signed before the takeover.
Just because you didn’t read about Kolo Muani doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
And you keep pushing this lie that Enzo already signed for Benfica before Maldini renewed. Wrong. Enzo signed for Benfica on July 14th , Maldini got the contract on July 1st.
In the real world when you fail , you don’t get rewarded. But you expect Maldini to continue having a full autonomy after he had it for 1 year and he was awful with his decisions.
Let’s give him more years right?
You can full autonomy when you own the club, not when you are just an employee
And kolo Muani was offered before the takeover.
It’s well established that they passed on Kolo Muani because Massara wanted Origi
Enzo alteady signed for Benfica at June 23rd:
twitter*com/FabrizioRomano/status/1539909442057256962?t=dUoO2Nn_UPmIHR02SrxGUA&s=19
Enzo signed for Benfica at June 23rd:
thetransferroom*com/.amp/manchestercity/argentinian-midfielder-enzo-fernandez-benfica-manchester-city
July 14 th . Check transfermarkt
Why are you so mad at me? I don’t even advocating giving Maldini one more year of autonomy.
I only said Maldini felt uncomfortable because the autonomy that he had (which is given at the renewal last summer) is taken away from him.
Why do you talk about transfers dealing which happen before the autonomy was given??? Origi, Kolo Muani, Enzo, etc happened before Maldini receive autonomy.
I don’t even argue about whether his transfer choice was right or wrong. I only explain why he felt uncomfortable. Why do you insist on picking a fight by dragging it to other topic???
Transfermarkt date was the date the transfer move come into effect. The deal had been signed at 23 June 2022, but transfer window was still shut and Enzo want to play for a bit longer at Argentine, so the move come into effect only at mid-July.
sempremilan.com/cm-benfica-win-the-race-for-enzo-fernandez-the-background-on-milans-interest
No one Is picking a fight.
Relax.
You said promises were broken. He got his autonomy, he didn’t do good with it and his bosses decided to make a change.
At the end of the day he had people that he had to answer to and they weren’t satisfied with his work.
Like it or not Cardinale is the boss, for now
I’m not going to argue about Cardinale’s right as owner or the result of Maldini’s work. I also won’t argue about whether Cardinale was wrong to break the promise or not.
The promise was autonomy (obviously for the duration of the contract which is 2 years). By changing the format into a working group, Maldini lost the autonomy which means the promise was broken. It makes Maldini felt uncomfortable. That’s the only thing I want to explain.
From the look of it, the current management is cynically ungrateful to Maldini who short of saved us (that’s what Scaloni says here).
They used his unique his strengths in the difficult moments, when none of them could do anything, they let him do all the difficult work and the moment they feel his gifts are not needed anymore (let’s see about that) they throw him with a second thought.
This is arrogance, such a bad mentality and very rarely it goes (somehow) unpunished.
Dude listen his side of story too
of course, being captain over others for donkey years and maintaining team cohesion implies he does not play well with others… sure thing.
Wow, the typical American spinning doctors’ talking points are regurgitated here.
Co-ordinated smear campaign with disinformation and fake news against Maldini is raging on.
Well done, dirty Cardinale!
Once again, Maldini wanted to win trophies and Jerry wants to please shareholders. Of course we are upset by the way Maldini got fired. But it’s false narrative to say upset people are pro-Maldini. We are pro-Milan.
Jerry built stadiums in the US, where you can threaten to move the franchise if the municipality is reluctant to pay. He is struggling in Milan, where the municipality is left wing, environmental-friendly. Or “communist”, as American liberals say.
The plan is “moneyball”, like Oakland’s baseball team. American leagues are closed, with a restraint number of teams that all have the same constraints (salary cap, draft, trades).
So the plan is to follow Toulouse’s example. Toulouse went from D2 to D1 two years ago. They won the National cup this year. They will play Europa League next season. They are on the edge of becoming a contender. But so far this summer, they already lost four starters, including their two best players. All for free. They did recruit one free agent, unknown guy. They will never compete for the domestic championship. They will probably be hammered in UEL. This is what we can expect.
Jerry is only interested in business. Why did a Wall Street hedge fund was interested in buying Milan? Because you loan money to your own club and you harvest interests. Basically you create money from nothing, it’s something Wall Street knows very well. Of course, you also get dividends from the benefits. The more profits, the more dividends. Now Milan is profitable, and the goal is to go more and more in this way. Only minor reinvestment because it’s lost money for the shareholders. You also build a new stadium and real estate around, offices and commercial spaces, that you lend for more profits. Actually this is smart, but we can assume most of this money won’t be reinvested. And Jerry’s position as owner of Milan gets him to meet local politicians to help in others ventures. You can call it network, or oligarchy.
Welcome to the new Milan, a profitable company for its shareholders and a frustrating football team for its fans.
“Welcome to the new Milan, a profitable company for its shareholders and a frustrating football team for its fans.”
Yeah, makes you really miss the good times of Fasobelli where 200M€ was spent just like that and f’cked up the finances for years and got us lots of silverware, right? 😀 😀 😀
I am already encouraged with the profiles that RedBird are after. Going after Thurman when Maldini wanted Arnautovic. The truth is Maldini still think like a player. He abandoned the long term project after the Scudetto win to try to win again fast and we would be back having to overhaul the squad again in 1-2 years like we did in 2019.
Those profiles were already in the mix when Maldini was there. I haven’t heard a “new” profile yet. But when I do then I’ll say that’s a profile the new regime wants.
Attracted players when no one wants to join milan is charm of maldini ..When we moved to champions league semis and league champions…now everyone is fcking ungreatful.. you might be owners and wanna change…do it proper way…be greatful what he have done…
And this old fart did what for Milan? except of spouting bullsh*t most the times, useless senile old fart.
At least he is being honest that Maldini is removed because Scudetto and CL Semifinal already enough to replace Maldini’s charm at attracting players.
let’s watch and see who will come… based on UCL only, we aren’t the only club playing UCL, Newcastle are also playing UCL this coming year.. what happens when we both want a player, what tips the scale in our favor? moncanda and Pioli will call the player and Maldini could have called the player, who will he respect?
I think many fans who rightly love Maldini for his contributions are failing to see the unfortunate truth. Since Elliot took over the plan was to slowly and surely build a team that would be sustainable financially and would compete for too honors each season. When we won the Scudetto, Maldini abandoned this project to try to strike while the iron is hot, collect as many trophies as we can quickly. This would have left us needing to restructure the team again the way we did in 2019. If Maldini cared to stay at Milan he would have bought into the new dynamic and given up some power so he could stay and still have some influence. Instead it is obvious he left his employer with little choice but to remove him so they could get on with the project. The end result is unfortunate, but there are is no hero and villain here. Just different visions and the nature of business. I have to say I already prefer the transfer targets being mentioned now (Thuram/Pulisic/N’Dicka) to the ones being mentioned a couple of weeks ago (Berardi/Arnautovic). Let’s wait and see what happens next.
When did Pioli become central to this project? 🤣🤣🤣🤣
It’s never in the Maldini era, just he tried to get out of debt with less spends on players, manager etc.,
Pioli is not fit if we have to participate 3leagues for many years
Everyone is speaking like we are already good and will progress like this
We don’t have good 11 starting players
And nothing on the bench.
We should be hiring 2 or 3 good players every season.
Scaroni: how much did we spent in last 4years
And Juventus just on paid to Fiorentina in past 2years?
We didn’t spend a lot but we hired many players but most of them are great players where many teams are approaching Milan to buy them
Anyone in the current Milan will not be able to do the same in negotiating/convincing the players
If we don’t fight for champions league, all players will leave Milan then only cardinale benifit with this not Milan or fans or hardwork that Maldini with massara has put will be in garbage
Best of Luck
Back to banter era
It all sums up with One Ancelotti comment..
“Clubs who focus only on business without the sporting aspect is destined to fail.”
Lets. for a moment, forget that it was Maldini who was the SD but someone else who achieved the same as Maldini did during his tenure. After all he did, of course you can decide to fire him, but it has to have a valid reason.
The reason stated is SD and Cardinale had differences. What was the difference? SD wanted more investment to make the club competitive while Cardinale wants ‘sustainability’. Wanting ‘sustainability’ isn’t bad, AT all. SD can get fired, it doesn’t matter. $hit happens in corporate world.
But the question is.. what is Gerry’s model of ‘sustainability’? THAT’s where my problems with Cardinale begins. Just analyze Toulouse’s business model and it should SHOCK every Milan fan. That business model is aimed to fill the shareholder’s pockets.. has NOTHING to do with ambition or winning.
The only reason Elliot’s model worked was because we had a SD who fought against it and brought Zlatan to the team. That SD also fought to keep Pioli because he thought Pioli could do it, then realized, it was never Pioli, it was Zlatan all along and then wanted to fire Pioli LOL The last part is my speculation tho. So calm down guys Lmfao
Now Cardinale comes along and fires that SD for no reason.. Should bring questions about Cardinale’s intentions to every Milan fan. May it be Maldini or not, the name doesn’t really matter much.
As Scaroni said..
“I think we will have to make some sales and complete some significant signings: we are ambitious.”
It all depends on who we sell and who we consider ‘significant signings’. Selling Mike Maignan to sign Pulisic.. means Moneyball. Every stake holder who has a stake in Milan will be ALL IN for it, except us fans who would spend on our beloved CLub just to fill Cardinale’s coffers. Our ex SD Was against it as well, but we are celebrating his sacking for some reason. Good job, ‘fans’ ..Good job.
And Elliot actually invest money for transfer budget.
Yes they did invest and they were also passionate about the sport. Were actually present watching the games. Knew the emotions that evolved around the club we love. Cardinale has NONE of it. he didn’t even know what Milan really is till he bought the club.
And who brought pioli to Milan?!?!
Sei un mercenario!!! Vediamo che giocatori Bernadette adesso!!! Il Mercato ci darra delle risposte se Cardinale vuole fare il bene del Milan o no!!!!
Any Maldini fans starting to realize what you have now is the Maldini WAS Milan so that goes a long way. So does all the wasted money. That could’ve gone a long way.
What if they said Moncada messed up or Furlani. Everything would be just fine right? No because the only good signing this year came from Moncada. Thiaw.
Pioli clearly didn’t get what he wanted last summer hence the reason for not playing players. Easy enough to piece together.
Same people riding his junk are probably same people who booed him out at retirement.
I said this before. If I owned a business and someone was dumping money wastefully while asking for more of it and more control I’d get rid of him too regardless of the PAST he symbolizes. Brings in a core but fails to bring in a bench
It was reported here last summer that CDK is Moncada’s recommendation. Maldini is just negotiator, he is not a scout, the young talents he bought are from Moncada’s recommendation.
I do understand your frustration. But.. lets have a discussion.
I still don’t understand where did you guys get Pioli did not ask for these players? Pioli asked for Adli SPECIFICALLY which is why we got him in teh first place after Moncada discovered him. Why did Pioli not play Adli? What’s the excuse here for Pioli exactly?
Scaroni said it himself.. Pioli always communicated all his demands to M&M and they worked together on the club. A SD is not bound to listen to a mediocre coach who doesn’t even know what’ tactics’ mean specially if that SD played under legendary coaches and knows what a good manager is.
Pioli is just bad at identifying talent and using them. he was the manager who used Krunic on RW/LW/ST/CAM when Saele, Rebic and DIAZ was available. Remember those frustrating days? lol Thank God Ibra was here to put some sense into Pioli.
A coach who couldn’t GIVE ANY of the summer signings even a proper chance to play is simply a bad coach. Period. There is just no explantation. He just doesn’t know WHEN to rotate the team and give chances to players. He can’t identify which games are important and which games he needs to rotate the players.
And Successful players are Scout’s signings, but the failures are SD’s? Don’t you think it’s a bit biased?
As for dumped Money wastefully? How? We just had the most successful financial year in 15 years with record attendance. So the signings didn’t work on first season. Did we turn a loss? NO. So how did the money get wasted? How do you know CDK and Adli won’t shine? Did it occur to you that Maybe.. Just Maybe… it is Pioli who is clueless other than the players/SD?
This is the very same Scudetto winning team minus Kessie. How do we lose against Relegation teams? Why couldn’t we rotate our players in 38 games? Are all those games were finals? How do we know Vrankxx is a bad player? How do we know Adli is bad? Were they given enough chances to prove? just 3 games each is enough? Are we expecting 10mil valued players to score and assist the club they have just joined in 3 games? It took Pioli 3 years to realize Diaz’s best comes out in RW yet he kept trying him in CAM. Sign of a good coach?
just some food for thoughts.
I’m hard pressed to think Maldini and Massara went out of their way with no input from either Moncada or Pioli to get Adli and CDK and then not pkay them esp the former. The only way I can think they picked up the cheap players is due to budget constraints imposed by same said owners anyways.
Regarding Paolo Maldini’s name “we need it less”….
Imbecile!! Theo,Maignon, maybe even Tonali signed with Milan because Maldini was able to sway them. Tonali maybe less because he is a long time rossonero…
He became a rossonero watching maldini play… not let’s see who becomes Milan fans watching Pioli play..
This is a telling interview, one that has a lot of hidden jabs that seem to confirm certain reports in the media (so I’ll give credit there in that sense to them). Overall it seems to me that to Scaroni and/or Cardinale, Maldini’s usefulness had run it’s course. They had a Scudetto and a UCL semi to their name so they no longer needed the name Maldini like how they needed him after Li. This comes off a bit arrogant and ungrateful even if he says “not to sound ungrateful”. Usually when you start sentences like that you tend to do the opposite. It’s like saying not to sound x but ….and then proceed to sound exactly like x.
The other part is comparing himself taking a backseat on the stadium issue with Maldini taking a backseat to the technical direction of the squad that he should leave it to other “experts” in the field. Scaroni isn’t an expert in stadium yes but that doesn’t mean Maldini isn’t an expert in on field technical matters.
Who more capable of, at the very least in defence, to seek out the right profiles there? And he’s been by and large spot on. It’s the attacking department where he “lacks”, he even said so himself. And this was where Boban was missed. He unearthed Leao. Maldini needed help there and Massara wasn’t able to provide that ability to scout mid or att talents.
I wrote previously that Maldini’s power had grown, it was becoming Maldini’s club and they didn’t like it. I think it’s why Scaroni wanted it to be “less” Maldini and more Milan. But ironically, Maldini is Milan too, the greatest to have represented the shirt. And thats the dilemma they face themselves with. I think they underestimate Maldini’s impact but I suppose they will use his work to further the work they had planned all along which is to use analytics.
It is also telling that he says the market will now be Furlani to coordinate with Moncada and Pioli. That leads me to think there wasn’t synergy between the three and Maldini with potentially Maldini making his insights known for better or worse we cannot tell….until now moving forward.
It’s really fascinating and I don’t want to be too negative. You can dedicate a whole hour to this.
This is the end of Milan as a truly european team, with history and tradition, and the start of a business model which no one will like.
Let’s see the tifosi how will react. Probably not well.
Difficult times ahead of Milan.
First thank you Maldini and im courious to see moncada/pioli recruiting strategt hopefully payoff. This gerry business model base on sustainable and calculated risk , i wont expect signing more than 50mil per season unless the club keep getting more and more profit every year.
There are TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY. Again this is all coming from ONE perspective – REDBIRD. We haven’t heard Maldini’s side to the story. Of course Redbird are going to say (in the most passive aggressive way) that Maldini was power hungry and would not collaborate with the rest of the team. HOWEVER, given the man’s history I find this hard to believe. A gentlemen and ultimate team player this sounds like convenient SPIN by the PR experts – REDBIRD to try and calm the fans down. First any sporting director wants final say on transfers. That is the job. BUT Maldini never had it and operated without it for the past 5 years (he needed Gazidis approval). So now we are to believe he turned into a power grabbing egotistical manic that refuses to collaborate with anyone (including Massara and Moncada and Pioli) LOL. How CONVENIENT. And for the record – Pioli so no mastermind coach like Klopp or Pep and he should a;ways be under scrutiny – his in game decision making, player selection and tactics are questionable- so as a sporting director it is only right that he should evaluate if the coach is performing or now. That is the job. BUT we all know Pioli is a company man. Redbird like him because he doesn’t ask for anything – doesn’t ask to SPEND $$$ – and that is what this is all about. Maldini wanted Redbird to spend more $$ to become elite (and rightfully so) and Redbird hated that (as evidenced by a REDUCED budget from last summer (50M) to a paltry 35M this summer) and have no ambition to do that – PROFIT over TITLES. Hence he was fired. The PR Spin about being disappointed about the CDK signing’s is again convenient and comical – given it is not Maldini’s task to “develop” players – that rests on the coach and it is the head of scouting that scouts and recommends a player – not just the sporting director. So the players that did develop like Thiaw are all due to Pioli’s brilliance but the ones who did not YET like CDK are Maldini’s? CONVENIENT lol.
So let’s NOT drink the kool aid gents. While it is Cardinale’s prerogative to hire and fire who he pleases as he owns the club. BUT that is NOT a reason to now try and assasinate Maldini’s character because you may have not realized the NEGATIVE response from the fans and PLAYERS from his callous and disrespectful sacking. He, a LEGEND of the CLUB and GAME – deserves better than that and we as a club should BE BETTER THAN THAT.
The above is the best post on this issue, ever! Well done, Juro!
Well said Juro.