Elliot-Milan, with their accounts restored and returning to the Champions League in 4 years

Distrust has turned into trust. Pleasant fears certainties. The disorientation has transformed into clear and consistent guidelines over time. In other words: the big question mark that accompanied the advent of Elliott at the helm of Milan has turned into a cross-sectional appreciation from the Rossoneri world. And to be able to bring an entire world to its side, the Fund led by Paul Singer – who entrusted the management of the Rossoneri club to his son Gordon – took less than four years.

Financial stability

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It was 10 July 2018 when Elliott announced that he had taken over the Devil: “The control of the holding company that owns Milan was transferred today to the funds managed by Elliott Advisors Limited. This transfer took place following the enforcement of some guarantees following the failure by the previous owner of AC Milan of its obligations towards Elliot ”. That is Li Yonghong, who brought down the curtain on Chinese Milan, which will always be remembered as that of the very rich (but not very productive) market and the deep red in the balance sheet. “Elliott has a clear vision – reported the official note of 10 July -: to create financial and management stability. Achieving long-term successes for AC Milan by starting from the ground up, making sure the club is properly capitalized. And to conduct a sustainable operating model that respects Uefa rules on Financial Fair Play ”.

Between field and desk

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Financial stability but also improvement in sports results. Which are obvious. Last season the club returned to the Champions League eight years after the last qualification and – net of the Scudetto fight – the Champions League will also arrive in the current year, an essential work base to keep the club at a high level in Italy and return to do so. compete in Europe. In short, the virtuous circle has been triggered, the squad has been enhanced thanks to the work of Pioli and in any case Elliott has placed interesting shots on the market. The last ones, which are the most rewarding for the fans, are named Tomori (28 million) and Maignan (13). But there is also Leao (24) and then, obviously, also situations that have not given the desired results such as Paquetà (the most expensive purchase with 38.4 million). Of course, it wasn’t all plain sailing. The Boban affair was heavy in terms of image (we are talking about an immediate dismissal for the manager number two of the club) and also had repercussions on an economic level. A bad business that had been preceded by the farewell of another manager, Leonardo, who had resigned a year earlier.

Accounts improved

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There were – and there were many – those who predicted a short life for the Fund at the helm of the club, who according to a current of thought would try to put it back on the market as soon as possible. Then the horizon began to take a more concrete shape and, although in unofficial terms, a management plan of no less than 4-5 years has filtered out. While in the hearings with UEFA they had instead talked about a three-year plan. So, in purely temporal terms, here we are. The surprise, if anything, comes from the fact that there was no kind of signal of such an imminent changing of the guard. But, if we are really close to closing, it is clear that the dialogue between the parties has been going on for some time. One thing is certain: when Elliott will live his last day in command of the club, looking back he will not be able to blame himself for anything. With the Singers at the helm, Milan has significantly improved the accounts – the budget red went from -195 million in June 2020 to -96 in 2021 and is announced to improve further this year too -, has undertaken a management philosophy based on on sustainability (indeed, on self-sustainability) through the mitigation of costs for recruitment and on the market and an aggressive sponsoring policy (27 between new agreements and renewals of those in place from August 2020 to today).

Virtuous path

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To do all this, Elliott has always injected liquidity regularly into a club which, in terms of ordinary management alone, costs around 10 million a month. Up to now, the Fund’s contribution has been 560 million between capital contributions and / or shareholder loans, net of repayments and interest, with a total exposure of approximately 740. More generally, the management of the Fund, compared to others top club, has distinguished itself for not having debt with banks. Other figures? Let’s give two: as of June 2021, net financial debt was 102 million. Last summer Milan, with over 75 million spent, was after Roma the club that used the highest budget on the market. Now another change of guard is on the horizon: the virtuous path is traced, the new owners the task of not ending up off the road.