Part 1
Paolo Scaroni gave two extensive interviews to La Gazzetta dello Sport and il Corriere della Sera, speaking at length about his time so far at Milan, the plans for the future and more.
Next week will mark 2 months since the start of the Elliott era at Milan, as the American hedge fund took over the Rossoneri from the hands of Yonghong Li, who defaulted on his loans.
The person who was chosen to be Elliott’s man at the club is Paolo Scaroni, a life-long Milanista and former CEO of the Italian energy company Eni. The Diavolo President brought Leonardo and Paolo Maldini back to the club and he is trying to bring Ivan Gazidis for the CEO role.
“I was first part of the Board of Directors [during the Yonghong Li days] and then was elected President [with Elliott]? I joined the board on the recommendation of Elliott and already at the time I was told that if they would ever become the owners of Milan, they could think of me as President,” Scaroni said in an interview with Friday’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I gave my availability, even if at the time it was difficult to think that it could happen. None of us could’ve imagined it. Even the epilogue of July 21 [the day he was appointed as President] was unexpected because no one, starting from me, imagined that Yonghong Li wouldn’t do the capital increases that he himself deliberated and written a year before.
“When the last increase was unsuccessful, it was a surprise for everyone. It was a double surprise: one, that he didn’t have the money, and two, that he didn’t try to sell the club to potential buyers. And so I found myself President in a completely unexpected way. For me, the behavior of Mr. Li was inexplicable: a gentleman who drew up a plan and didn’t respect his own plan.
“The first word that comes to mind when I see myself as President? Very lucky. For a Milanista, being the President of Milan is not bad. It will be even more fun when we have a CEO, because I’m a complement. Actually, I’m very busy, I need someone to do it as a steady job.
“Concrete progress has been made with Ivan Gazidis for the CEO role? We are not in a hurry, there is no deadline. Let’s say that within a few weeks the problem will be solved. It’s a choice that should not be made under pressure. It will be a figure with a very strong commercial connotation. As for Gazidis, he already has an employer [Arsenal] and it’s not nice to talk about it.
“What is the strategy of Elliott for Milan? In football, success and failure are extremely visible. The impact is crazy. So Elliott, on one hand, looks at this investment from a financial point of view, and on the other hand as something that can benefit its reputation. They care that Milan will return to being the Milan that has made 400 million around the world fall in love. Elliott gives a lot of attention to this club, and then Paul and Gordon Singer are both great football fans.
“The medium-term time frame is confirmed? They have a design of 3-5 years. Liverpool and Arsenal, for example, are valued at €2 billion. We need to create a value and to do it we need time.
“What in practice does it mean ‘returning to the glories of the past’? A club like Milan must achieve sporting results, and the glories refer to this. In economic terms, however, we cannot forget that Milan had a turnover of €200-210 million in 2003 and today we are still at the same figure. Meanwhile, Real Madrid, Man United and Man City have increased [their turnovers] by 4 times.
“Money and sporting results must progress together, the sporting part cannot go on its own, and you need a managerial job behind it. In addition, we have the constraints of the Financial Fair Play: it is no longer enough to have money. We, in sporting terms, have taken a big step forward in bringing Leonardo and Maldini to Milan, they are quality people, who are expects and great lovers and connoisseurs of the club. They give you a reassuring sense of home.
“In financial terms, we have made a capital increase of €50m. This is a financially sound club, the balance sheet is in place and this has also been decisive for UEFA. Without these accounts and with different faces, we wouldn’t have gone to Europe. Now we need to increase revenues. We need to drag Milan out of those €210m… I repeat, we have 400 million fans in the world. We must be able to have sponsors interested in reaching these fans in a reasoned manner. But it’s something that takes years, not months. On this ground Milan has done very little in recent years.
“Stadium ownership an important item in revenues? The first condition is to have a modern stadium. Then it can be owned by the Municipality, this is not the essential factor. And I don’t exclude that two can play there [Milan and Inter]. My mind is open to all solutions. Among other things, San Siro is an icon, a success story for both Milanese sides. The dialogue with Inter started profitably. If Elliott has any ideas on listing Milan on the Stock Exchange? It’s something that I have never heard of.
“How long until Milan can get back to contending Juventus’ supremacy? Yesterday in the Lega, I looked at the board with 7 consecutive badges and I reflected on the fact that today the Scudetto is worth a little less than 15-20 years ago. Winning the Scudetto is beautiful, but the world of football has become that of the Champions League. And for us what matters is to come back, but I would like to emphasize that it is not a forecast included in the plans with which we presented ourselves to UEFA. We talked about the Europa League and not about the Champions League. Ours is a medium-long term program of a young team that must clot and strengthen, without stress.
“When will we see Milan again among the top 8 in Europe? We did not give ourselves a timetable. But it’s a goal that is within Elliott’s plan, so in 3-5 years we’re already talking about it. And anyways, the Champions League attracts more than the Scudetto.
“My relationship with Silvio Berlusconi? I met him in the mid-eighties, when he wasn’t yet the Berlusconi that we all know. I told him that my son and I were Milanisti and the next day we got a hundred thousand lire in Rossoneri shares. So I’m still a shareholder [laughs]. With Monza now he will have crazy fun. He and Galliani understand football a lot, not like me.
Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani during the Milan-Inter Berlusconi Trophy match at Stadio San Siro on October 21, 2015. (Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)
“How can we define Mr. Li, who also promised to bring Milan back to the top of the world? He’s a question mark that hasn’t been answered and maybe will never be. I’ve seen him three times in my life, I’ve never talked to him because he does not speak any language other than Cantonese. But I don’t care about what happened, I look ahead. Certainly it was an unexplainable story, I didn’t understand a single thing. But I think about what Milan should do in the next 2 years, not about Li.
“What kind of CEO was Fassone? We didn’t share many things and several of these things I only saw later because they weren’t brought to the Board. This for me is a subject of criticism. In terms of choices, like separating from MI Stadio [the company that manages San Siro and related activities]. I found myself in disagreement [with Fassone], it seemed to me to be the wrong decision.
“What didn’t work in particular in the Chinese Milan? The continuous back and forth on the money. Games are won by the teams, but championships are won by the clubs. We spent time talking about missing millions and certain things came up to the locker room. We had to have the famous last €32m [capital increase] because if they weren’t put there we couldn’t have registered to Serie A. How does a club like Milan live like this? It creases a sense of precariousness that is harmful to everyone.
Marco Fassone during a press conference at Casa Milan on the 5th of July, 2017. (@acmilan.com)
“If Gattuso with Leonardo and Maldini is the perfect team? Gattuso has all the trust of the club, and in particular that of Leonardo and Maldini. A trust that rests on a solid basis, the results speak for him.
“Why should UEFA give Milan the Voluntary Agreement? In fact, we’re not at all sure of it. We are waiting for the motivations of CAS, which I imagine will arrive in 2 weeks. We will have a sanction, and we will also have to be credible in our plans for the next few years. If we write, like happened in the past, that things will be fine because we’ll collect €150m from China then we’re not being credible. However, I have come up with the idea that the double change of ownership can lead UEFA to being a little more flexible. Or at least, these are my hopes. We cannot exclude the Voluntary Agreement because ours will be a special case. Otherwise, we’ll settle for a Settlement Agreement.
“What should the fans expect from this Milan? We have guaranteed a club and a solid team: with this combination we can achieve any goal.”
