Cardinale: “I don't want to Americanize Milan. Inter? After the scudetto, bankruptcy”

December 22, 2024 (changed at 4.05pm) – MILANO

Milan under the magnifying glass of Harvard Business School. Twenty-four pages in which the Rossoneri club was analyzed by the prestigious Boston university school, where the CEO also graduated. Giorgio Furlani. A document which also contains several statements from the leaders of the Rossoneri club, starting from RedBird's number one, Gerry Cardinale. And there is no shortage of words that will make the fans discuss.

cardinal

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“When we bought AC Milan, many owners of American sports teams called me and said: 'You're crazy'. They told me: 'You can't do business in Italy'. Most of those who invest in sports clubs do so because they are emotionally involved. They put winning championships above everything else and this often leads them to make the mistake of thinking that spending too much to field an all-star team is linearly related to winning. But that's the worst thing you can do do as an investor. I think Milan has the potential to become a 5 billion euro company. I chose Furlani as CEO because he thinks like we think at RedBird. I understood that the most important element of the role of CEO in European football is financial responsibility and the ability to integrating performances on and off the pitch. Each of us brings something and we are all part of an integrated team. Most people would consider Ibra's appointment as 'showcasing' or think of me as a celebrity-loving owner. . It's the exact opposite: I'm looking for world-class people who can make us better. The fans do their job, but the problem is that most of the other components in the chain make it more difficult for us to offer the best to the fans. The media often doesn't help, and neither does the government. They recently removed the tax advantages, they should understand that football is one of Italy's greatest exports.” On Berlusconi: “What he did with Milan reminds me of what Steinbrenner did with the New York Yankees. Over the years '80s and '90s it was possible to do it, but now we can't afford it anymore. We're competing with clubs in richer leagues and we can't afford to pay the players what they pay them. We have to spend every dollar of capital more intelligently than we do We have no rivals sold Tonali to Newcastle because we needed him, we sold him because we received an excellent offer and we made a risk-reward assessment. We collected 70 million euros plus an earn-out of 10 million, the highest figure ever Serie A. And thanks to that sale we bought six new players and completely renewed the team. We sell out of necessity, we sell out of opportunism.” On the stadium: “We may significantly renovate our existing stadium or build a new one that reflects these clubs' current status as a live event entertainment company. For what the renovation would cost, we could probably build a completely new stadium. But building stadiums in Italy is a challenge. I would like to see the construction of a modern stadium with 70,000 seats, but we are not getting much help from the city in obtaining planning approvals. I'm not trying to Americanize Milan. I'm trying to introduce some American elements that can take Milan to the next level in a constructive way. Winning championships is obviously an important goal. But you have to balance this with 'winning smart'. Inter won the scudetto last year and then went bankrupt (the reference is to Zhang, not to the club itself, ndr): is this really what we want? For the fans, my job is to win the Italian championship every year, I understand that. For my investors my job is to position Milan to fight for the Scudetto every year, qualify for the Champions League every year and go as far as possible in the Champions League every year. This is what maximizes cash flow and brand value.”

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ibrahimovic

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“Furlani and I first met during Elliott's time. When he became CEO, we sat down to talk and he liked the meeting enough to encourage Gerry to meet me. Initially Gerry said he didn't want to hire former players, but Giorgio convinced him that I was different. When it comes to numbers, we rely on Giorgio. When he starts making his calculations, for example on which players we can afford, he is a monster be Zlatan a lot to learn, but I think I also have a lot to give and I wanted to be in a position where I can make a difference. One of my responsibilities here at Milan is to grow the winning mentality of the team, to make sure the team delivers results to the players: 'When you are here at Milan, if you get results, you can make history'. I am close to the team but not too much, I am in a different position than when I was a player together with many others who are still in the team.”