Milan, a week at the rally: all fronts still open

Seven days at the rally. The first as Italian champions, a sensation that hadn’t been experienced at Milanello for eleven years. Stefano Pioli can’t wait to get back into the game and back on the pitch, but his Milan is all to be built. Or rather, really not all, because there is already an excellent base from which to start defending the title and to return as protagonists also in the Champions League. But some important pieces are missing at the corporate-managerial level, as well as players in some departments. In short, work in progress. And if on the market side it is basically normal, what is happening at the level of ownership and management is not something you see every year.

Maldini, Massara, Gazidis

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The first open front concerns the contracts of the technical director and the sports director. From today, every day is potentially good for the renewal to be formalized. Signature that arrives at the last minute in terms of timing, but in fact Maldini and Massara have never stopped being active on the Devil’s market. If anything, the problem is to understand what are the limits within which they will have to move: the budget of 50 million for the summer session, for example, but also the margin of autonomy with respect to the new RedBird property, to the old Elliott property (which remains as a partner ) and to those who represent it. As the CEO Ivan Gazidis, whose future will not be defined this week, but has a time horizon that currently does not project beyond November.

Stage

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A mini-note also on the story of the stadium: the outcome of the ballot for the election of the mayor of Sesto San Giovanni is an element – not so secondary – in the choice of the area to build the new plant. In these days, therefore, it will be understood whether Sesto can continue to be “plan B” in the event of further slowdowns on the San Siro project.

Market

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The main attention of the Rossoneri fans, however, is concentrated on the transfer campaign, as is normal for the summer. At the moment, the Milan squad has some important boxes to fill: Kessie’s replacement in midfield, a central defender instead of Romagnoli, a playmaker and / or an attacking right winger. The first step will be to welcome the man who will replace Ibrahimovic as the center forward, that is the Divock Origi expected in these hours for medical examinations and signing. Then it will be time to go hunting for the other new grafts. For Ziyech it is a problem of formula, for Traoré of price, for Sanches also of competition with PSG … and then Zaniolo and Dybala, the big Serie A players that Milan is watching, waiting to understand if there is a way to place the blow. Who knows if some new faces will already be seen at Milanello next Monday, in addition to those of the players who have sewn the Scudetto on their chest on 22 May.