AC Milan in the middle of a revolution: finding new leadership is proving harder than expected
AC Milan is navigating one of the most complex summers in its recent history. While the fans wait for concrete news on who will lead the club in the upcoming season, what is filtering out of Via Aldo Rossi paints a far more complicated picture. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gerry Cardinale are making call after call, but — according to the latest reports — they are collecting more refusals than acceptances from the profiles they approach.
It comes as little surprise that, from the outside, the Rossoneri’s situation still appears chaotic and unresolved: missing out on the Champions League for a second consecutive year has significantly reduced the club’s appeal in the eyes of top executives, who prefer to wait for more stable contexts before committing.
Clear constraints: a leaner transfer window is inevitable
One thing is already crystal clear: Milan’s summer transfer window will be strictly limited. The absence from the Champions League — and the resulting loss of tens of millions in revenue — forces a strategy built mainly on player trading: sell to buy, keeping the balance sheet under tight control.
The current squad includes approximately 19 players whose futures are uncertain — including those returning from loans such as Bennacer, Bondo, Terracciano and Chukwueze — but not all of them will feature in the next coach’s plans. Many will be sold or released on free transfers.
Working from a conservative estimate: if Milan needs to sell 5 or 6 players to raise funds, the club would be forced to make at least ten signings to build a squad capable of competing in Europe. A roster of 24–25 players is the bare minimum for a team with European commitments.
A summer of revolution: not just on the touchline
What lies ahead, therefore, is a total overhaul — not just in the technical and management areas, but in the very fabric of the squad. Rossoneri supporters should brace themselves for a Milan that looks very different from the one they watched last season.
Based on information circulating in recent hours, the profiles Milan is targeting for the key roles — CEO and Sporting Director — will in all likelihood be foreign figures, consistent with RedBird Capital Partners’ philosophy. The same applies to the head coach. A full internationalisation of the club’s leadership structure appears to be the direction of travel.
On the names doing the rounds, it is worth noting the public denial from Giovanni Carnevali, Sassuolo’s current CEO, who stated he has had no contact whatsoever with Milan — despite his name being repeatedly linked to the Rossoneri in recent weeks.
The revolution launched at Casa Milan has only just begun: the road ahead is long, but the direction seems set. Milan will rise again, and this rebuilding phase — as painful as it may be — could well be the starting point of a new winning cycle.
