The deal that was supposed to bring Ralph Rangnick to AC Milan as technical director has officially collapsed. A negotiation that appeared to be on the right track ultimately stalled due to an endless wait and a decision that never came. The result? The German coach has chosen to remain head coach of the Austrian national team, leaving Milan back at square one.
The Negotiation and Rangnick’s Ultimatum
In recent days, AC Milan had seemingly found a viable path to bringing Rangnick to the club. There were talks, meetings, and concrete negotiations. But something broke down at the decisive moment. Rangnick had asked for a clear answer by the weekend — in or out, no half-measures. That answer, however, never came.
After nearly 20 days of silence and stalling, the coach — already under pressure from the Austrian football federation, which had a contract ready on the table — made his decision: Austria comes first. An unmistakable signal that the negotiation is to be considered closed.
The Full Powers Issue
Behind the failed agreement lies what appears to be a fundamental problem: AC Milan was not ready to fully entrust the project to Rangnick. The German coach, by nature and by his working style, requires complete autonomy in sporting management. Had the club truly wanted to bet on him, they would have closed the deal within days, handing him the keys to the project. The fact that this did not happen suggests that there were internal resistances or divisions over this choice within the club’s leadership.
It is no secret that Zlatan Ibrahimović still holds considerable influence at the club. And it is likely that Rangnick himself was well aware of this. In the coming weeks, it will be crucial to understand what role the Swedish legend intends to play in the first team’s decisions, and whether figures like Kirowski — already active in the club’s internal management — will gain more and more weight in the Rossoneri’s structure.
An Unprecedented Leadership Void
It is 12 June 2026 and AC Milan remains the only club in Serie A without a technical director, a sporting director, a chief executive officer, and a head coach. These four figures are indispensable for building any kind of structured project: from squad management to transfer market operations, from loan deals to the construction of next season’s technical framework.
As already highlighted in recent weeks, AC Milan finds itself in a state of managerial chaos that is generating unease even within the dressing room, where several players are waiting for answers that are slow to arrive.
What Comes Next: Comolli, Amorim, Glasner
With Rangnick out of the picture, the merry-go-round of names starts all over again. Comolli, recently removed from Juventus, is back in the frame: a former collaborator within the RedBird network, he knows Cardinale’s dynamics well and could be a compatible profile for the American owner’s vision.
On the managerial front, new contacts with Amorim have emerged in recent hours, while the Glasner trail — a name closely linked to Rangnick and initially put on hold by Milan — now appears increasingly distant, given that the premise that made him attractive has disappeared along with the German coach’s exit.
Football’s Timelines and Cardinale’s Responsibilities
One aspect stands out strongly from this whole affair: Gerry Cardinale does not yet appear to fully grasp the timelines of Italian and European football. In a sector where every day counts, where transfer windows open and close, where managers are appointed and players bought or sold in precise time frames, stalling for weeks is equivalent to losing ground on every front.
The owner’s reported stance — that “there is no rush” and that it is better to take a few extra days to avoid mistakes — clashes with the reality of a club that, in mid-June, has none of its key figures in place. Urgency, in this case, is not a flaw: it is an absolute necessity.
The hope is that concrete signals, swift decisions, and a clear direction will finally emerge in the coming days. AC Milan has the resources and the history to return to the top. All that is needed now is the willingness to act with the determination that a club of this stature truly deserves.
