Scaroni discusses 2024-25 disappointment, building a ‘winning Milan’, stars and sporting director | OneFootball

AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has claimed that the club are ‘disappointed’ with the way this season is going, but are working to build a ‘winning’ team.

It has been a very difficult campaign for Milan, despite their Supercoppa Italiana triumph which was the 50th trophy in the 125th season of existence. The Rossoneri are currently ninth in the table and nine points from fourth place, having lost nine times in Serie A.

As in the UK, the ‘999’ has brought on an emergency, with widespread reports that there will be big changes this summer, from the management down. A sporting director is expected to arrive, yet it seems it will not be Fabio Paratici after the talks broke down for various reasons.

This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport has an exclusive with the Milan president Scaroni, who spoke at length about the season so far, planning for the future and of course the stadium project.

President, what do you feel like saying to the fans who see the club struggling with yet another rebuild?

“This is certainly a season that leaves a bitter taste in our mouths, it applies to everyone and especially to me who has always said that reaching the Champions League was an obligatory goal.

“Today that we see it far away we cannot be satisfied, but there is also something positive: we brought home a trophy by beating two important teams, we are in the running for the Coppa Italia.

“It is not enough for us, obviously, but I can promise maximum commitment from everyone so that next season will be satisfying. We are already at work.”

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Can we translate this satisfaction into objectives? You know what they say: that you are content to aim for qualification in the Champions League.

“There is no doubt that the international sphere, so I’m talking about the Champions League, other cups and the Club World Cup, is the minimum for Milan to be satisfied with.

“And I must say that if we look to the future in 20 years, greater attention to international competitions will be inevitable, it is a phenomenon that involves all sports. But this does not mean that we do not aim to win the trophies, on the contrary.”

Reconstruction begins with strengthening the club, and therefore filling the role of the sporting director that was left vacant until now. Some candidates have been close then vanished [Paratici], can you help us clarify?

“As I was saying, we are not satisfied with the sporting results. We have been very active on the market, no one has taken as many players as us, now we want to strengthen ourselves also in the management.

“I will not go into the merits of the individual names, I only note that I read many that do not come from us: I suspect that they are self-candidacies spread by those who want to come to Milan.”

From the sporting director to choosing the coach of the future is a short step…

“Our coach is Sergio Conceicao, in the Coppa Italia derby I saw a gritty team, just how we fans like it. I think that grit is exactly what our coach has transferred to the team. Our ability to come back from disadvantageous situations also proves it.”

Another thing that is said about Milan is that there are divisions between the CEO Giorgio Furlani and the advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic. And that there is no clarity on who does what…

“Look, I see them working together at Casa Milan and they get along great. The roles are clear: Ibra is part of the RedBird management and is ‘on loan’ to Milan. He was criticised for being absent, but he was sick.

“I repeat: he is an added value. He was a champion on the pitch and he is also one off it, he will certainly remain in this project. But I want to insist on one concept: people are important, but Milan comes first. And we are all aware of this.”

Which players will you build around? And as a fan, who excites you the most?

“When Leao lights up, he excites all the fans, including me. Then it’s always unpleasant to name names, but for consistency of performance I’ll name two: Pulisic and Reijnders, who I think have won everyone over. It’s no coincidence that we want them with us for a long time.”

Is Gerry Cardinale hurt by the protests?

“On the contrary, he is more determined than ever to win, like all of us who work at Milan and who are fans. Even if he is not here every day, Cardinale dedicates many hours of his day to Milan.

“RedBird has already brought the club to record revenues, more than doubled in the last four years (from 192 to 457 million, resources all reinvested in the club) and with his skills he has been very useful for the stadium project.

“Certain protests against those who invested 1.2 billion to buy the club are not the best way to support us.”

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

But is Cardinale’s vision of an international club, which seeks synergies with other worlds, compatible with the reality of Italian football?

“As I was saying, RedBird has already been fundamental for Milan. It is true that it looks at fans from all over the world (we can count on 500 million fans) and that we have the president of the Yankees on the board of directors, just to mention one of our synergies, but our starting point is the fans who come to the stadium.

“We are the club with the highest average attendance in Serie A, with 71 thousand spectators and the fans remain at the center of our commitment. RedBird is a plan that we all share, but as with all sports results they are the absolute priority. They are the foundation on which everything else rests.”

To make the leap in quality, a stadium of the same calibre is needed. Are you optimistic that this could be the right time for the new San Siro?

“I have to say that yes, I am. And do you know why? Because it is no longer just the project of Inter and Milan, but also the project of the municipal administration. After six years spent in person on this issue, I can only appreciate this broad sharing.

“On the project, we and Inter are aligned because we have similar needs, the same number of attendances at the stadium, the same need to have premium seats adequate to the needs of companies, which also allow us to keep prices accessible for everyone else.

“Now there is a common will to build a beautiful stadium, finally worthy of the city of Milan. And, let me add, that allows us to have an environment for families, accessible to all and safe from criminal infiltration.”

Inter and Milan have joined the Ultras’ trial as civil parties…

“Of course, we, with Inter and the Lega Serie A, are also united in wanting to put an end to certain phenomena that have discredited our realities.”

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Speaking of Inter, how do you experience the competition and the strength of the Nerazzurri?

“I don’t experience the rivalry with Inter in such an exasperated way and my children tease me a bit: ‘you, dad, didn’t go to elementary school in Milan’, where in fact the rivalry is very strong.

“And it’s true: cheering is always a matter of feelings, I would like to win all the matches, but I have to admit that the victories I prefer are the derbies.”

The lack of modern facilities is just one of the reasons that makes the Italian league less competitive. What are the others?

“The stadium issue is perhaps the most easily solved. I’ll mention three others. Almost all the League meetings focus on the sale of international TV rights. Here we are at one-tenth of the revenues of the Premier League and a third of LaLiga.

“The most banal solution would be to have champions like Messi and Ronaldo who for ten years have been perfect witnesses of LaLiga, but as you can see it’s not an easy path.”

And the other two?

“The issue of sports betting: in three years the collection has grown almost 30 times, yet football receives nothing. I must say that we have positive responses from the government to be recognised a percentage of ‘copyright’, as well as for the abolition of the dignity decree.

“Finally, piracy: there is an extremely modern law that is however applied only to those who organize the scam but not to the user. Those who use the pezzotto do not realize that they are doing damage to their team.

“To paraphrase Kennedy, the fan must not only ask himself what his team can do for him but also what he can do for his team.”