After Fabio Paratici, Tony D’Amico is also no longer an option for the role of AC Milan’s new sporting director: Atalanta, in fact, has no intention of losing their director, so the Rossoneri will be forced to remove him from their list of candidates as well. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, three names remain in the running for now: Igli Tare, Giovanni Manna, and Giovanni Sartori.
What about Igle Tare?
Of the three, the Albanian is the only one currently without a club and could therefore start working for Milan immediately. During his fifteen-year spell as an executive at Lazio, he did excellent work and discovered some top players — first and foremost Sergej Milinković-Savić, signed from Genk for €10 million and later sold to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia for €40 million. In addition to the Serbian, Tare sealed several deals such as Zaccagni, Gila, Lazzari, Immobile, and Luis Alberto. Among coaches, the Albanian sporting director — who works with a trusted network of collaborators that scout across all European leagues — holds great respect particularly for Massimiliano Allegri and Antonio Conte.
Among the three remaining candidates for the role of sporting director, Manna has the least experience in Serie A but has already shown a keen eye for spotting talent. At Juventus, he worked in the youth sector and later with the Under-23 side, helping develop players like Yildiz, De Winter, Soulé, Miretti, Barrenechea, Nicolussi Caviglia, and Iling-Junior. Manna is now at Napoli, where last summer he pulled off two major signings: Neres from Benfica and McTominay from Manchester United. He also has a strong rapport with Antonio Conte.
Giovanni Sartori
While Tare is available, Sartori is under contract with Bologna until 2027, so it would be very difficult for him to leave the Emilia-based club, where he’s been doing extraordinary work for several seasons. His biggest coup in a Bologna shirt was certainly Riccardo Calafiori, signed for a low fee from Basel and sold to Arsenal for a substantial sum after just one season. Other discoveries include Zirkzee, Castro, Odgaard, Ferguson, Ndoye, Beukema, and Miranda. Even during his time at Atalanta, Sartori was behind major transfers and profits, including the likes of Kessié, Kulusevski, and Gosens. He holds a high regard for Vincenzo Italiano — a name that has recently been linked frequently with the AC Milan bench.
