Milan, Cardinale-Maldini, high voltage: the manager could be at the end of the line

Milan and Paolo Maldini are close to breaking up. The meeting between Gerry Cardinale and the director this morning has become a very tense face-to-face. Cardinale and Maldini parted ways with an open contrast and the risk that Milan and its technical director will separate is high. Is it possible that the break will be healed? Impossible to exclude it but it is difficult. The impression is that the evening will not bring any official news. Tomorrow, who knows. For Milan, obviously, it would be the Big Bang that opens a new course and closes the Scudetto era in the most sensational way. The seasonal results – Champions League semi-final and qualification for the next edition – had prompted everyone to consider the continuation of the relationship logical, with RedBird an ambitious property and Maldini in his role as head of the technical area, the flag of the club for the fans and a thread with the past . However, many problems remained, under the surface.

The reasons

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The contrast arises from the differences in the plans for the new course and for next season in particular. RedBird evidently wasn’t satisfied both with the season’s performance, with a fifth place transformed into fourth only by the penalty suffered by Juventus, and with the summer investments, with Charles De Ketelaere and Divock Origi symbols of choices that didn’t give results on the pitch. However, it is clear that something is wrong in the relationship between Maldini and the owners, regardless of the victories and defeats. Maldini, after complicated years in the relationship with the then CEO Ivan Gazidis, signed a two-year renewal on 30 June 2022. That contract guaranteed him total autonomy in the technical area, within the budget established by the owners: an outstretched handshake, which arrived after a long negotiation on the contract, debated line after line. Too much, probably. For sure, the feeling has never been total. Until today’s split. In this scenario, the work of sporting director Ricky Massara, very close to Maldini, the man of the negotiations in these years of run-up to the Italian and European summit, would also be interrupted.

Pioli stays

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Sporting director Ricky Massara will follow Maldini: in case of farewell, he too would leave. And Stefano Pioli? However, Pioli remains at the helm of Milan. The coach has always had the trust of the owners and has received public appreciation from both Cardinale and Furlani. The reorganization would still have to be defined in detail, but it is logical to imagine that Pioli would have more decision-making power on the market. Inevitably, his words from the end of May come to mind: “If we want to be competitive to win the championship and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, it is clear that the team needs to improve.”