AC Milan and the American approach: head hunters enter the picture
A new and unprecedented chapter is unfolding at AC Milan: the ownership led by Gerry Cardinale, flanked by Zlatan Ibrahimović and executive Calvelli, has decided to rely on head hunters — specialised agencies dedicated to finding and selecting high-profile managerial figures. A well-established practice in the Anglo-Saxon corporate world, but entirely new for a football club of Milan’s stature.
How the head hunter mechanism works in football
The process is straightforward in theory but complex in the context of football: these agencies are tasked with drawing up a shortlist of candidates — typically five or six profiles — for each vacant role, whether that be the head coach, the sporting director or the chief executive. The list is then submitted to the decision-making trio of Cardinale, Ibrahimović and Calvelli, who make the final call.
In traditional football, this process works in a fundamentally different way: an experienced sporting director already knows the ideal candidates, evaluates their track records, their working methods and their compatibility with the club. The choice is based on years of sector knowledge, not on a presentation sheet produced by an external agency.
The cultural gap between American ownership and Italian football
This approach clearly reflects the cultural distance between RedBird Capital Partners’ American ownership and European football. Cardinale and his inner circle manage AC Milan using the criteria typical of US corporate management, where head hunters are a standard recruitment tool. But football — and particularly a club with the history and identity of AC Milan — is not just any business.
The real risk is that profiles who are technically competent on a managerial level may be selected, but who lack the deep knowledge of Italian football and the Rossoneri culture that is essential to lead a club of this magnitude.
The Rossoneri fans feel increasingly disconnected
It is the AC Milan supporters who are paying the highest price in this situation. Those who for years have lived and breathed the club, suffering and celebrating through thick and thin, now struggle to recognise themselves in the people at the top of the organisation. The disconnect grows day by day, fuelled by opaque decisions, cold communication and management that appears to focus more on the global brand image than on the soul of the club.
AC Milan has a unique history, built on champions, trophies and a powerful identity. The Rossoneri fans deserve a club that speaks their language, understands their values and builds the future with the same passion that wrote the past. And that passion, that knowledge, cannot come from a list drawn up by a recruiting agency.
As already highlighted in recent days, the power vacuum within the club is weighing on players and the club’s future: without a clear and recognisable leadership, every decision — from the transfer market to sporting planning — remains on hold.
