CM: ‘Make us win’ – the boxes Milan’s new director must tick and the candidates | OneFootball

AC Milan will not hire Fabio Paratici as their new sporting director, and now the process to fill the role will restart from some key principles.

As Calciomercato.com report, Milan looked all set to hire Paratici and there was even a verbal agreement. Yet, issues related to the Prisma investigation by the Rome Prosecutor’s Office and his operability before his ban expires in July forced the leadership to walk away.

Milan’s priority now, as reiterated by CEO Giorgio Furlani before the Fiorentina game, is to find the ‘right person, in the right role and who is competent’ focusing on this ‘more than on timing’, and adding “It must be someone who can make us win.”

The boxes to tick

A very important piece of information regarding the choice that Milan will make centres around the pre-requisite that the candidate(s) have an in-depth knowledge of Serie A, something Furlani underlined.

“We are in the context of Italy and the Italian league and all its specificities: it is something that will be carefully evaluated,” he stated. In other words, it seems very unlikely that the club will ‘experiment’ with a more ‘European’ profile.

The other very important aspect in choosing the new sporting director will have to be the ability to work in a group, because all decisions will remain collegial in nature with the voice of the CEO having the final say.

Furlani actually confirmed this on the sidelines of the Coppa Italia semi-final: “We haven’t had a traditional sporting director in the last two seasons, we’ve separated the role into various people in the club.

“Now what we’re evaluating is to take a more traditional SD and consolidate those roles in one person. It will still remain a working group, we’ll work together with the sole objective of being successful on the pitch.”

The stand-out candidates

Who ticks these boxes? Tony D’Amico could be the ideal profile for the current management, but the still has a long contract with Atalanta and yesterday confirmed to Sky and DAZN before Atalanta-Lazio that there are ‘only rumours’ circulating.

It is a necessary and obvious answer given the current contract and work already begun in view of next season. It does not completely exclude him from the candidates, but it highlights the need for a negotiation between clubs to possibly release him.

As with D’Amico, Giovanni Manna – currently sporting director of Napoli – remains in the background but a negotiation with Aurelio De Laurentiis would be needed. The contract of the director, who arrived last summer from Juventus, is still long, and convincing Napoli to let him go will be tough.

Igli Tare is the other name, who Zlata Ibrahimovic and Gerry Cardinale seemed to have put in pole position, even interviewing him. He is not Italian, but he has been in Italy for a lifetime, he knows the league and had experience working with a tough president in Claudio Lotito.

The Rossoneri would be ‘almost a dream’ for him and a direct meeting with Furlani will be needed to understand if he could be the right choice. The week that is about to begin will be crucial.