Milan sack Paolo Maldini
According to Football Italy, the conflict between the two sides has been simmering for some time, as Maldini repeatedly said in interviews that he was frustrated by the lack of budget in the transfer market and urged owners to invest more.
Cardinale moved from the US to Italy at the end of the season and met directly with Maldini on June 5, the day after the 3-1 win over Hellas Verona in the Serie A final round. But the meeting only deepened the important differences. point between the two sides.
Here, Maldini asked for more autonomy and more funding to strengthen the force in the summer of 2023. However, Cardinale - director of Red Bird, owner of the club, and CEO Giorgio Furlani disagreed. desire to reduce costs and continue to develop according to the current model.
Cardinale and Furlani also point out that Maldini was given a budget to spend, but most of that money was invested in the more than $40 million Charles De Ketelaere deal. And the young Belgian midfielder disappointed when he did not score in 40 games in all competitions this season.
According to Calciomercato, Maldini and Massara were fired by Cardinale, instead of the initial reports that the duo resigned. Sky Sport Italy and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano also confirmed the information. This decision will completely change the structure at the top of Milan, because Maldini and Massara used to be in charge of transfers and contract negotiations.
According to La Repubblica, many Milan players are shocked and angry at the latest developments in the upper deck. Sandro Tonali and Theo Hernandez see Maldini's role not only as Technical Director, but also as representative of the club's history.
Rafael Leao, who sat between Maldini and Massara to sign a contract extension until 2028 just a few days ago, posted on Twitter with a thinking emoji.
Maldini spent his entire career playing for Milan, from 1984-2009. He holds the record of playing 902 matches for Milan. Since 2018, this famous former left-back has been the Director of Strategy and Sports Development. From June 2019, he was appointed as Technical Director.
In the role of Technical Director, Maldini and Sports Director Massara are highly appreciated when buying many high-quality young players at cheap prices, then significantly increasing their value after a period of dedication to the club. This number includes goalkeeper Maignan (bought for $ 14.5 million - currently valued at 65 million), midfielder Tomori (31 million - 53 million), midfielder Tonali (18 million - 53 million), defender According to Hernandez (22 million - 76 million), striker Leao (28 million - 100 million), midfielder Bennacer (18 million - 53 million). The cheap veterans that Maldini - Massara brought in such as midfielder Simon Kjaer or striker Olivier Giroud also made great contributions to the team. These players are the mainstays of Milan to win the 2021-2022 Serie A and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.
According to Football Italy, Igli Tare - who has just announced not to renew his contract as Lazio Sports Director - is a candidate to replace Maldini. But it is not excluded that CEO Furlani will take on more Maldini's role to control more direction for the future of the club, and head of recruitment Geoffrey Moncada has been promoted to sporting director in place of Massara.
This season, Milan was eliminated from the 1/8 round of the Italian Cup, losing to the same city club Inter in the Champions League semi-finals and the Italian Super Cup match. The army under Stefano Pioli was lucky to finish in the top 4 of Serie A thanks to the fact that Juventus was deducted 10 points.
