Igli Tare‘s adventure at AC Milan is officially coming to an end. The former Lazio sporting director will not be part of the Rossoneri’s project next season, making him the first name officially out of the internal restructuring the club is undertaking ahead of the future.
One Year and Then Goodbye
Tare’s stint in Milan lasted just over twelve months. During his tenure, he worked on both incoming and outgoing transfers, trying to build a competitive squad. However, some of his market operations failed to deliver the expected results — most notably the signings of Christopher Nkunku and Ardon Jashari, representing a combined investment of nearly €75 million, both of which underperformed relative to expectations.
Not All Tare’s Fault: A More Complicated Internal Picture
It would be reductive — and arguably unfair — to place the entire burden of blame on the former sporting director. According to what has emerged, Tare never enjoyed full decision-making autonomy within the club. On multiple occasions he was bypassed on operational decisions, and in some instances transfers were completed without his direct involvement.
The most striking example came during the January transfer window: both Tare and Allegri were told that no funds were available for market operations. The sporting director had already sealed the signing of Niclas Füllkrug back in December — a free agent, meaning no transfer fee for the club. Then, at the end of January, around €30 million appeared out of nowhere for an additional operation, handled directly by Giorgio Furlani without any input from the sporting director. A management short-circuit that’s hard to overlook.
The Scapegoat of a Difficult Season
In this context, Tare looks more like the first casualty of a season that fell well short of expectations, rather than its primary architect. Had things gone well, the credit would have been shared by all. Since things went badly, someone had to foot the bill — and that someone, at least for now, is Tare.
If we were to assign shares of responsibility, the picture would be far more distributed: between Giorgio Furlani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and the ownership represented by Gerry Cardinale, there are responsibilities far heavier than those attributable to the former sporting director alone.
Milan looks to the future, but to truly move forward, an honest and thorough analysis of everything that hasn’t worked in recent years will be necessary. The first step has been taken — now we wait to see what will happen to the other key figures in the Rossoneri’s management.
