CEO Giorgio Furlani is continuing the process of finding the right sporting director for AC Milan, and a new name has popped up in the casting.
As first reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport and confirmed by Calciomercato.com, Kim Falkenberg is the latest candidate that has emerged. He is former defender who grew up in the Bayer Leverkusen youth team and played in the lower divisions in Germany before retiring in 2018.
After hanging up his boots, he immediately returned to Leverkusen to begin a career in scouting. The miracle accomplished by Xabi Alonso last season also bears his signature given that for a long time he was in fact the second signature of the club’s transfer operations.
He almost never appeared publicly though, instead letting Simon Rolfes and Fernando Carro – the sporting director and CEO of the club – do the talking. It is not too dissimilar, therefore, to how Geoffrey Moncada operates.
Officially Falkenberg held the role of head of scouting but since March 2, following Rolfes’ promotion to the role of CEO, he has also been promoted to the role of new sporting director. The press release made it clear how much his work is valued.
Kim Falkenberg has played a key role in shaping the sustainable development of Bayer 04 in recent years. The quality of our current team is also based on his work and that of his employees, whom Kim leads in a motivating and effective way. He is an important part of our strong management team and we are pleased to be able to benefit from his sporting experience.”
Milan were impressed by this rapid escalation and above all, by the impact that his work has had on Bayer Leverkusen. For this reason – and despite the promotion just received – they have included Falkenberg in the list of sporting director targets.
Fabio Paratici and Igli Tare – currently free from contract – would be easier to get, while Tony D’Amico of Atalanta is currently in the running too. The other names that are further away are Tiago Scuro of Monaco and Markus Krosche of Eintracht Frankfurt, as they intend to stay at their respective clubs.
