Vision, track record and the coach factor: Milan’s sporting director candidates compared

SempreMilan

·5 March 2025

Vision, track record and the coach factor: Milan’s sporting director candidates compared

In recent years, the figure of the sporting director has taken on an increasingly central role in the dynamics of clubs aiming for the top.

In this perspective, Milan are looking for the right profile to fill a role that for too many years has been relegated to being almost a supporting role. Rather ironically, the last sporting director that the club had left due to a disagreement, so getting it right this time is crucial.

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Since the sacking of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara, Geoffrey Moncada has been the technical director of the club. Antonio D’Ottavio was also promoted to sporting director, but reports earlier this season suggested that he stepped down due to having a different vision.

Who will replace him and begin the planning for the 2025-26 season, ahead of what is a pivotal summer? It seems that the Milan leadership have narrowed the list down to two candidates: Igli Tare and Fabio Paratici.

Both have held prestigious positions, but with very different paths and results. In a possible head-to-head battle to take the reins and decide the future of Milan, which of the two would be the best option?

The Paratici dilemma

Starting with Paratici, the Italian has built much of his career alongside Giuseppe Marotta, a figure who in Italy is considered the true champion of the role and is of course currently in charge at Inter.

However, away from Marotta’s shadow, Paratici has had difficulty maintaining the same standards of excellence. His work at Juventus has left more doubts than certainties, culminating in legal problems that have further undermined his credibility.

Looking at the work that was solely his, the high-profile addition of Cristiano Ronaldo – signed from Real Madrid in 2018 for €112m – certainly stands out and he repaid the faith, scoring 100 goals in three seasons.

Matthijs de Ligt joined Juve from Ajax for €75m too, while Dejan Kulusevski was signed from Atalanta for €35m before reuniting with Paratici when he headed to Spurs, and Adrien Rabiot’s arrival on a free transfer can be deemed a success too.

Paratici demonstrated some creativity when Juventus were not able to spend exorbitant sums. For example, in 2020 Arthur Melo was acquired from Barcelona in a swap deal involving Miralem Pjanić plus €10m. He also won the race for Federico Chiesa from Fiorentina with a loan-plus-obligation formula.

Paratici’s later years drew criticism because of high wage commitments such as the Ronaldo and Aaron Ramsey deals, while investments on certain young talents such as Cristian Romero, Merih Demiral and Weston McKennie did not pay off in the immediacy nor become part of the future core.

Tare’s tale

Tare has shown great adaptability and management in a rather unique environment like Lazio. Working for over a decade with a ‘difficult’ president like Claudio Lotito, he has managed to build competitive teams despite having limited resources.

His work was not limited to the simple management of the mercato. Tare was in fact able to earn trust far and wide from top to bottom, earning support from the ownership down to the fans, from the head coach to the squad.

He brought valuable players to the capital who embraced the Biancoceleste cause perhaps beyond all expectations. Furthermore, it is not to be underestimated the ability with which Tare was able to maintain high standards at Lazio by retaining the key players.

The shining jewel of his work was Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, acquired from Genk for €18m in 2015, who became probably the best midfielder in Serie A. Luis Alberto was signed from Liverpool for €4m in 2016 and he proved to be another shrewd pick-up.

Ciro Immobile was signed from Sevilla for €9.5m in 2016, becoming Lazio’s all-time leading scorer and winning the Capocannoniere. Tare’s ability to replace players was also commendable, as seen when Francesco Acerbi was signed for €10m from Sassuolo to replace Stefan de Vrij in 2018.

Lucas Leiva arrived from Liverpool for €5.5m in 2017 as a replacement for Lucas Biglia, a player they sold for over €10m more to Milan and it proved to be the right time to cash in on him. Perhaps the best indication of ‘the art of the deal’ was signing of Felipe Anderson from West Ham for €3m in 2021 after having sold him three years prior for over 10x that amount.

The coach factor

Another aspect that clearly distinguishes Tare from Paratici is his relationship with coaches. If Paratici has often worked with already established profiles, Tare has been able to pick out emerging managers.

Perhaps the first example would be Stefano Pioli, who had not achieved a great deal prior to finishing third in 2014-15, though things did fall apart the next season. More recently, Simone Inzaghi is the shining example, and this trend could have a big influence on Milan’s direction.

With Tare in charge, it is almost certain that he would look for profiles like Vincenzo Italiano, Raffaele Palladino, Roberto De Zerbi or even Cesc Fabregas, figures who embody a modern football philosophy and who know Italian football.

It’s a completely different story with Paratici who, as mentioned, prefers certainties to gambles. In the case of his arrival, the most popular names would be Massimiliano Allegri and Antonio Conte, two notoriously successful coaches with high demands but experience of such pressures.

The choice Milan face

From a qualitative point of view, the gap between Tare and Paratici is evident. Tare has shown that he can build solid, sustainable and competitive teams, even without the economic means available to other top clubs.

However, the Milan environment represents a different challenge and an almost incalculable dynamic whereby competence is not enough: you also need the ability to manage pressure and expectations, delivering silverware often.

In this aspect, Paratici could offer greater guarantees, but the price to pay would perhaps be the demands for a greater amount of money to spend on rebuilding the squad based on the coach he hires. With that comes the risk some of the euros would be spent badly.

If Milan decided to focus on a long-term project, centred around developing emerging talents and coaches, Tare would seem to be the ideal choice. The real question is: are the Rossoneri geared towards the courageous and ambitious or the safe and traditional?