AC Milan are looking for a new head coach ahead of next season, and the return of Max Allegri is an idea that is gaining momentum.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) reports that after a meeting in New York between the number one of RedBird, Gerry Cardinale, and the CEO Giorgio Furlani, the foundations of the new Milan were laid.
Having established that Sergio Conceiçao’s adventure in red and black will end (at the end of the season or sooner, if the streak of defeats continues), the time has come to act in advance so as not to experience, in 2025-26, another year like the current one.
Last summer, the directors looked at hiring Julen Lopetegui before then going with Paulo Fonseca. A winning coach was needed, someone who knows the league, because Stefano Pioli had celebrated a Scudetto and reached a Champions League semi-final.
There was a need for someone with greater appeal and ability (on paper) than the Parma coach. Like Antonio Conte, who not coincidentally revitalised Napoli, or like Allegri, who is still free after the sabbatical year following his farewell to Juventus.
Now that Conceiçao needs replacing and Max is free, the mistake of 2024 will not be repeated. Cardinale and his team have understood the lesson that the pitch is teaching in a season where the 50th trophy in the club’s history arrived, but there was plenty of disappointment elsewhere.
The right man?
Allegri has all the characteristics to be the right manat the right time. First reason: after such a troubled season (and we are not at the end yet), within Casa Milan they understood that a ‘normaliser’ is needed, but above all a winner who is inevitable to follow. I.e. not another gamble.
If a year without the Champions League would be in some way sustainable for a club with a healthy balance sheet like Milan’s, failing to qualify for the most important European cup for the second season in a row would become intolerable, for the accounts and for the fans.
Allegri is a guarantee: he has won six league titles and always finished in the top four (apart from the year of the points penalty given to Juventus). He didn’t do so with a beautiful style of play or with the dominant football, but through hard-fought performances and defensive resilience.
Second reason: he has already been at Milanello during the Silvio Berlusconi era, he won a Scudetto and at his side he had Mauro Tassotti, who could return to be part of his staff, and had Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a centre-forward. It wasn’t all roses and flowers between the Swede and Allegri, but time has sutured the wounds.
Objections and alternatives
The obvious objection is that Max’s return to Juventus was not full of satisfactions apart from the success in the last Coppa Italia, so why should Milan hire him?
Simply because when he returned to Turin they sold him the strongest player in the squad (Cristiano Ronaldo) and then he faced complicated situations especially off the pitch.
At Milan he would find a club with the accounts in order, that has been investing in the market for two seasons, that will be reinforced by a new manager for the sporting area (Igli Tare respects him, as does Fabio Paratici) and that is eager to hit the second star.
Third reason: Max is used to playing with all the formations. He has his demands, but he also adapts to the human material that is made available to him and brings out the best. In the current Milan there are players to relaunch.
Relaunching following a winner like Allegri would be easier. And if the Champions League is in Milan’s DNA, Max has reached the final twice in the most coveted European cup. Allegri is therefore a strong idea for Milan, but it also teases the person directly involved who said no to the money from Saudi Arabia and is waiting for an important call in Italy to take revenge after leaving Juve.
Alternatives to Max? There is no other winner like him and therefore another profile would be needed, like Cesc Fabregas or Roberto De Zerbi, both esteemed and appreciated for the brilliant work they are doing with Como and Marseille. In pole position now, however, there is Allegri.
