Milan, Moncada: “We tried to get Vinicius and Bellingham, but you can't compete with Real Madrid”

Also Geoffrey Moncada, Milan technical directorspoke at the event at Harvard University dedicated to the case of the Rossoneri club. Here are the salient passages of his speech:

“The technical director is the link between the coach, the players and the rest of the sporting side on the one hand, and the commercial side on the other. I respond to Giorgio and talk to him every day, several times a day. I try to share as much information as possible. How are the players? What do we need for the future? What contracts do we need to change? What can we improve in the medical department or in the youth sector? five abroad, and we have data scientists at Casa Milan who there they help find players with data.”

“He asks us questions, gives us ideas and helps us find good players with data from Zelus (player data analysis company, ed.) but the final decision on a player is never based on numbers alone.”

“We are taking calculated risks with young players rather than buying big names with big salaries. Maybe you won't have immediate success this way, but you build for the long term. Reijnders was playing in the Dutch league and we were the only ones to bet on him. You ask yourself: he's a great player, why doesn't anyone want him? We managed to get him at a great price and now he's a starter for us and plays for his national team.”

“We tried to recruit [all’epoca 17enne] Vinicius Jr. and [all’epoca 20enne] Jude Bellingham, but we couldn't compete with Real Madrid. We have to accept it. In recent years we have brought great players to the club, and as a former scout I see it as a personal challenge to take underrated players and make them perform at the highest level.”