AC Milan and the search for a new head coach: where things stand
AC Milan are still in full search mode for their next head coach. While rivals have already begun to reshape their squads — Inter, for instance, have sold Dumfries and are targeting Nicolò Zalewski, one of the most exciting young talents in Italian football — the Rossoneri remain stuck at square one: finding a manager. It is a delay that carries a cost, but one that can still be overcome with the right decisions.
The Glasner meeting: a first step towards a decision?
On the evening of Tuesday 2 June, a dinner took place between Oliver Glasner and a number of club representatives, including Gerry Cardinale and several of his trusted associates. The meeting — described by those involved as exploratory — was not the occasion for signing any agreement, but it did represent a meaningful first face-to-face contact.
Glasner listened carefully to the club’s vision: discussions covered the sporting project, budget and future prospects. The Austrian coach, currently without a club following his time at Crystal Palace — where he won three trophies — is keen to take on a bigger challenge. Milan could be the right platform, provided the club offers him concrete guarantees on both the sporting and financial fronts. Further meetings are expected in the coming days.
Slot and Pochettino: the alternatives under consideration
Internal divisions within the club, however, make the picture more complex. Different visions coexist within the Rossoneri hierarchy: Calvelli and Cardinale appear to favour the profiles of Glasner and Ralf Rangnick, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic is reportedly pushing hard for Arne Slot, the former Liverpool manager.
Slot, however, comes with a significant financial obstacle: at Liverpool he earned around €8 million per season, a figure that Milan — in a campaign without Champions League football — would struggle to match. For context, the highest salary recently paid by the club was that of Massimiliano Allegri, at around €5 million, and negotiations over the settlement of his contract are still ongoing: the former coach is reportedly unwilling to waive a single euro of what he is owed.
The third name in contention is Mauricio Pochettino, current head coach of the United States national team. The Argentine has previously held talks with Milan and is well regarded for his international profile. There is also a strategic dimension worth noting: with RedBird Capital operating in the US, a high-profile coach like Pochettino would carry considerable image value for Cardinale’s American project. The catch? The World Cup: Pochettino is committed to the USA at least through the group stage (roughly late June), and potentially into July should the team progress further.
Rangnick and the World Cup dilemma
Similarly, Ralf Rangnick — one of the most frequently discussed candidates in recent weeks — finds himself in a comparable situation: the German coach must first decide whether to extend his commitment with the Austrian Football Federation beyond the World Cup, a tournament that will keep him occupied at least until 28 June. As with the other candidates, his immediate availability remains a question mark.
The underlying issue, regardless of names, is precisely this: Milan needs a manager who is available immediately, ready to work on the squad, plan the transfer window and build the technical blueprint for next season. The profiles currently being evaluated are all — to varying degrees — tied up with their respective national teams at the World Cup, making the whole process slower and more complicated than anticipated.
Calvelli and the CEO question
Massimo Calvelli is taking on an increasingly central role within the Rossoneri’s command structure, having inherited several responsibilities from Giorgio Furlani and already holding the authority to sign contracts. Cardinale is reportedly pushing to appoint him as Chief Executive Officer, though Calvelli himself is said to be not entirely convinced at this stage. As explored in a recent piece, his profile sits at the heart of the club’s ongoing restructuring process.
The fact remains that the CEO role is still officially vacant, and the coming days will be crucial in determining what kind of organisational structure emerges in the wake of 25 May — the date of the sweeping dismissals that saw Allegri, Tare, Moncada and Furlani all leave the club.
A Milan that looks ahead with determination
Despite the complexity of the current moment, AC Milan have all the tools they need to find the right path forward. The choice of new head coach will be the first major act of this rebuild, and every name on the table — from Glasner to Rangnick, from Slot to Pochettino — represents a different but ambitious vision for the club’s future. Next week could be the one that finally brings clarity.
