After Zlatan Ibrahimovic left, AC Milan has reportedly fired two figures who have played an important role, namely Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara. AC Milan closed the top competition season of the Italian League, Serie A, 2022-2023 season with a home win over Hellas Verona, Sunday (4/6/2023) evening local time.
The home match against Verona was also a farewell moment for the aging Rossoneri striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic, whose contract at Milan expires at the end of this season, has decided to retire from football. “It’s time to say goodbye to football, but not to you. It’s too difficult, too many emotions. Forza Milan and goodbye,” Ibra said in his speech after the Milan vs Verona match.
The high pressure of the higher ups
The day after the season-ending match against Verona, Paolo Maldini as technical director and Frederic “Ricky” Massara (sporting director) had a meeting with AC Milan owner, Gerry Cardinale. Calciomercato reported that the meeting of the three Milan officials was to discuss the club’s steps and priorities in the upcoming transfer market. The meeting was held at a hotel in downtown Milan.
Maldini, Massara and Cardinale discussed the club’s transfer strategy with existing funds. Calciomercato said Milan would invest 50 million euros in the July-August transfer period to meet the need for new players in several positions. However, the meeting did not go well. There was high tension between Maldini and Cardinale, who had different visions about team development.
Maldini was said to be frustrated with the lack of available players in the transfer market and urged Cardinale as the club’s owner to invest more. The meeting seemed to have reached a stalemate.
Maldini and Massara were reported to have resigned from Milan. However, Calciomercato confirmed that Maldini and Massara, who were his right-hand men, were sacked by Cardinale.
Meanwhile, Tuttomercatoweb said that the chaos in AC Milan’s top ranks was part of a power struggle with CEO Giorgio Furlani. Furlani is claimed to be the one who took a bigger role in the final stages of Rafael Leao’s contract extension.
On the other hand, the departure of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara was a loss for Milan. Because these two people became important figures behind the Rossoneri’s smart transfer. Accompanied by Massara, Maldini managed to bring in quality players with minimal spending funds such as Theo Hernandez, Rafael Leao, Olivier Giroud and Mike Maignan. These names became the pillars of AC Milan when they won the Serie A scudetto last season.
