Mirabelli and the Ronaldo dream: “There was an agreement, but the Chinese didn’t have the money”
A remarkable piece of behind-the-scenes history has emerged from Milan’s past. Massimiliano Mirabelli, former sporting director of AC Milan during the Chinese ownership era, has given an interview in which he reveals a previously untold detail: he had reached an agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo to bring the Portuguese superstar to Milanello. A signing that, had it gone through, would have rewritten the club’s recent history.
The story: the deal was done, but the money wasn’t there
According to Mirabelli’s account, talks with Cristiano Ronaldo had genuinely progressed to an advanced stage, with a personal agreement reached on contract terms. The obstacle, however, lay elsewhere: the Chinese ownership simply did not have the financial resources to complete the deal with the selling club and cover the Portuguese star’s wages.
It is a compelling story, but it needs to be understood in its proper context. The Chinese era at Milan was marked by serious financial difficulties: payments were delayed, wire transfers fell through, and ultimately it was Elliott Management that took over the club in 2018 precisely because the Asian ownership could not meet its financial obligations. How could you negotiate for one of the most expensive players in football history if you lacked the funds to close the deal?
An era of dreams and contradictions
That transfer window — the summer of 2017 — was one of the most hectic and controversial in Milan’s recent memory. Signing after signing, big names, grand ambitions. But behind the enormous spending lay a fragile financial structure, built on loans and promises rather than solid guarantees. The Ronaldo-to-Milan move remained, evidently, a dream that never saw the light of day.
It is worth being precise: reaching a personal agreement with a player on contract terms is only the first step in a transfer. Something entirely different is having the resources to pay the transfer fee to the selling club and sustain the wages of someone like CR7, whose salary was among the highest on the planet. Mirabelli did his job by opening the channel with the player, but the external conditions made it impossible to follow through.
From Chinese chaos to stability: today’s Milan is a different story
Several years have passed since those turbulent times. After Elliott came Gerry Cardinale with the RedBird fund, restoring stability and strategic vision to the club. Today’s Milan is a solid institution, capable of planning significant investments such as the one being pursued for Gonzalo Ramos, with a more structured governance model and a long-term vision.
Looking back at that era serves as a reminder of how far the club has come. The Milan of today does not sign players to grab headlines, but to build a winning project — and that, perhaps, is the greatest difference from the frantic and unstable years of the Chinese ownership.
