Cardinale and the Milan stadium in La Maura: “Staying in Milan is the priority”

From our correspondent Luca Bianchin

March 2nd
– london

Gerry Cardinale from the Business of Football Summit organized in London by the Financial Times launches an assist for Sala and the La Maura area, suspected of building the new AC Milan stadium: “In the ideal world, staying in the area of ​​the Municipality of Milan is a If possible we will stay in the Municipality, but we will still coldly evaluate what will be the best opportunity”. It is not a definitive decision but a clarification of Milan’s priorities for the choice of the new plant. Cardinale and RedBird want to decide quickly, by April, and La Maura now takes pole position. There are still many assessments to be made on the area and there is no lack of unknowns but Cardinale speaks openly of the guidelines in the decision. If all goes well at La Maura, Milan will build its plant there. Otherwise, it will go without too much trouble elsewhere. Speaking of San Siro, here is his opinion on the stadium: “San Siro was built in the 1920s, if we want to bring Milan and Serie A back to the top world level we have to go through infrastructure”.

the fans

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Cardinale spoke for half an hour about Milan, about Italian football, about the future. He explained who are the three interlocutors with whom he intends to build his work: “The fans, Serie A, the municipality of Milan” (and this is also a good sign for Mayor Sala, met yesterday at Palazzo Marino). Then he recounted his bond with Milan: “Five years ago we looked around, the journey began then. We looked at the European market and Billy Beane was decisive in making me change my mind, in educating me and convincing me that European football could be ‘Moneyball’, a great opportunity. Milan was a tremendous opportunity to do what we like. It’s one of the biggest brands in Europe. Now I want to win, like everyone else, and I’m always on the phone with our staff. A “Milan has a phenomenal fan base, with Tottenham they set the box office record in Italian history. The fans did their job, now it’s our turn.”

bye superalloy

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Cardinale speaks quickly, intensely, is naturally at ease on stage: he has the image of a determined man. On the Superlega, for example, he is clear: “The project has failed, there’s no reason to talk about it. However, we need to understand why it was proposed, we need to find a competitive balance. I want a competitive Serie A, the problem is how to do it”. And he says no to the entry of the funds into Serie A: “The funds into Serie A? I’m not a supporter of this. Everyone has capital now, instead what matters is understanding what the business plan is. We have a lot to do, but we mustn’t look outside from our ecosystem to be efficient”.

pegs and data

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Concepts that those who are used to knowing Cardinale know come back in the interview. The esteem for the Singer and Elliott: “I have great respect for the Singer. I was impressed by what they did. One of the points of the business plan is continuity with Elliott, even if RedBird has 100% of the shares. Furlani and Cocirio , two of their managers, told me they would like to return to Italy and I am 100% for continuity”. His approach, which rejects centralization and focuses entirely on proxies, on trust in managers: “There are people who arrive in football with guns drawn, I don’t. I will never tell Pioli which training to do”. The use of data as a key to work: “We exploit data a lot. Everyone has it, the difference is how you use it”. And his recipe for success: “I started with George Steinbrenner (historic owner of the Yankees, died in 2010, ed.), I saw what works and what doesn’t. You can’t buy wins, we have to reduce volatility. If you perform consistently, the results come. That’s what you can control, consistency.”