Maldini has been with the club since school
AC Milan throws club icon and fan favorite out
06/06/2023 10:34 am
Paolo Maldini played for AC Milan when he was still at school, and then played for the Italian club’s professional team for more than 20 years. He then moves to management. But now it’s over for the 54-year-old. Maldini has to leave the club by the will of the US owner.
According to media reports, the top Italian club AC Milan is parting ways with its technical director Paolo Maldini. The owner of the football club, the US investor Gerry Cardinale, informed the 54-year-old at the beginning of the week, according to the Milan newspapers “Gazzetta dello Sport” and “Corriere della Sera”.
The reason for the expulsion are fundamentally different views on the future direction of the club. In addition to Maldini, sports director Frederic Massara also had to go, it said. Now only the official confirmation from Milan is pending. Actually, Maldini and Massara still have contracts until 2024.
Coach Pioli stays with the club
Maldini is arguably the Rossoneri’s greatest club icon. He has played with clubs since his school days and with the professionals from 1985 to 2009. During that time he won the national champions’ cup and the Champions League five times and was champion seven times. He was Milan captain from 1997 until the end of his career.
Maldini has been the club’s technical director since 2019 and is therefore jointly responsible for the squad and the transfer market. Last year, the Milanese surprisingly won the championship title in Serie A. The northern Italians ended the past season in fourth place; in the Champions League they were eliminated in the semifinals by city rivals Inter.
Maldini and club owner Cardinale are said to have never harmonized particularly well since the investor came on board in 2022. Now the ex-professional is mainly accused of a botched transfer phase last summer – the Belgians Charles De Ketelaere and Divock Origi, traded as the most important purchases, flopped.
Unlike Maldini, coach Stefano Pioli remains on board. It is expected that the coach will have more say in transfers in the future. “If we want to be competitive to win the league and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, it’s clear the team needs to improve,” Pioli said recently.