Gerry Cardinale’s AC Milan prepares its low-cost revolution

Despite a season marked by a return to the Champions League, including a semi-final loss against rival and neighbor Inter, AC Milan experienced a very mixed end to the 2022-2023 financial year by one point. sporting and financial view. In addition to the elimination of the most prestigious of European competitions, the Rossoneri finished at the foot of the podium in Serie A. If the Lombard club collapsed in the second half of the season, the Milanese management decided to clean up. In disagreement on several points, including the recruitment of several players at the level deemed insufficient like Charles De Ketelaere, Paolo Maldini and Gerry Cardinale have reached a point of no return causing the departure of the legendary Italian defender and a real wave shock in the world of football on the other side of the Alps.

A few days earlier, another bomb had indeed left its mark in the ranks of AC Milan. Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired and left the Lombard club orphan of one of its most charismatic stars of the last ten years. With his advanced age for a professional player, the Swedish giant surely did not think that his departure would precipitate a revolution within the Milanese club. And yet. Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paolo Maldini, the new owner has all the keys to achieve his goals by establishing an American-style operation as he was able to do with the New York Yankees in MLB and the Dallas Cowboys in NFL. . However, a detail, and not the least, leaves some doubt, the finances of the team based in San Siro are in the red and the Italian club is not at its best financially speaking.

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A transfer window in troubled waters

Very bad news for a club that wants to start a revolution. Especially at the start of the transfer window. And the departure of Sandro Tonali is proof of that. True cornerstone of the AC Milan midfielder under the leadership of Stefano Pioli, the Italian international will pack his bags to fly to the Premier League, on the side of Newcastle. An admission of weakness when you know the importance of the 23-year-old player on the game of his team, but also for his future in the more or less long term. But thanks to his transfer, estimated at 70 million euros, not counting the various bonuses that will add up, the Milanese club will offer themselves a breath of fresh air, but also the possibility of having a little more cash at an important moment. The envelope planned for this summer transfer window would thus increase to 100 million euros while the Lombard management hopes to see five players land at Milanello this summer.

A new surprise start which weakens the spine of AC Milan. And it shouldn’t stop there since Mike Maignan could also be interested in a new challenge away from the Lombard city. Especially since the departure of Paolo Maldini deeply marked the French goalkeeper who had not hesitated to point the finger at his direction after his choice to part with the legendary Milan defender. Even if the idea of ​​a departure for Chelsea, which was nevertheless in pole position to welcome him, was quickly dismissed by the main interested party, there is no doubt that other European teams will position themselves on the 27-year-old goalkeeper. The Rossoneri leaders will reflect in the event of an interesting offer arriving on the negotiating table, just like for another Frenchman, a certain Pierre Kalulu, targeted by several Premier League teams, as we revealed to you recently.

Recruits who are waiting

For the latter, we can confirm that if an offer of 25 million arrives from England, the Milanese management will not be asked to let their French defender go. Finally, the last departure concerns Fodé Ballo-Touré. According to our information, the Milanese club must make room in its extra-community contingent and the former Ligue 1 player would pay for it. Thanks to these various departures, AC Milan hopes to strengthen itself with the arrival of five players for an envelope of 100 million euros as mentioned above. But pessimism is in order, the fault of finances currently in the red. Indeed, this would represent only 20 million per recruit. The only certainty therefore remains the extension of Rafael Leao which had been recorded before the departure of Paolo Maldini, which does not plead in favor of the new strong men of the sports management, Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada.

If the Domenico Berardi and Tommaso Baldanzi files have been definitively put aside after the departure of the legendary Milan defender, the new duo at the head of the sports management has not yet managed to achieve a big blow during this summer transfer window. While several tracks are still pending, like the potential arrivals of Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Adama Traoré. But that’s not all since the Rossoneri are targeting 4 renowned attackers to start off on a solid foundation: Mauro Icardi, Gianluca Scamacca, Alvaro Morata and Loïs Openda; after the failure of the track leading to Marcus Thuram, who will commit very soon with Inter. The site therefore promises to be truly colossal in Lombardy. The mission of the management promises to be very complicated. To be continued…