Speaking at ‘The business of football summit’, organized in London by the Financial Times, the number one of RedBird, Gerry Cardinale he has declared: “Il Milan is one of the big brands in European football, has the second most trophies of Champions League in history after the Real Madrid. It is an undermanaged asset. We like to bring our capital and operating capacity into an ecosystem and improve it. And that’s what we’re going to do here“.
Cardinal’s Project
The enhancement of Milan is a wide-ranging project for Cardinal: “I have always been concerned about European football because, if you look at the ecosystem and the capital it attracts, it would seem that competing against sovereign states is not a good idea. But there is a virtue and a continuity in the way we acquired Milan. I’d say Elliott has done a great job in the four years that he’s owned it. He’s brought it to a point where someone like me can take over and take it to the next level“. The president of RedBird continues: “When we look at Milan, we look at the ecosystem: we start from that and write the business plans. There is Serie A, there are the fans, there is the Municipality of Milan. There is a real opportunity for us to bring a transformative capital, build mindset, entrepreneurial mindset to professionalise the way these assets are managed and administered, deliver a value proposition to the community“.
Cardinal on stadium and Superleague
“When we bought the Milan we have not signed up for the construction of a new stadium. There hasn’t been a new stadium in Italy since 2011. Of course we are aware of the importance of San Siro in Italy and in Milan but we are evaluating several sites, including the one near San Siro, to see what could be done. I think we can bring real value, I think we can transform the area and Milan“. And then on Super League adds: “The initiative failed and there is no point in talking about it. The point should be: why did this happen? And the reason that’s happened is that there’s been a divergence between England and the Continent. I want all the teams in the A league are competitive. I want Europe to be competitive with the Premier League“
Ambrosini and his son’s illness: