Gerry Cardinale assures he is at Milan ‘for a long time’ and is open to building a new stadium ‘in collaboration with Inter,’ while suggesting how to grow Serie A without the Super League.
The RedBird chief sat down with Calcio e Finanza to discuss his plans for the club since taking over from Elliott Management, who remain as minority shareholders.
“I have 25 years’ experience investing in sports, building companies in partnership with the best rights holders in the world, in addition to investing in teams and leagues themselves,” said Cardinale.
“I have always believed in an approach to investment that must be guided by cash flow generation rather than just turnover, and that must be guided as much as possible by non-emotional considerations.
“However, I have to say that the only case where I occasionally lose this aseptic approach is AC Milan, where the passion of the fans and the importance of the team to everyone is something I have never experienced before in sports.”
There were suggestions that Cardinale was already looking at offers from Saudi Arabia or Qatar to potentially sell Milan, but he shrugs it off.
“I worked 20 years at Goldman Sachs, I smile if someone thinks me so naive as to take on a debt to be repaid in just 18 months. I am in AC Milan to stay for a long time and if it was up to me I would stay here forever.
“At this moment there is a lot of capital in the Middle East interested in investing in sports and we are open to engaging with potential partners who could join us both as sponsors and as partners in construction of the new stadium, or as minority shareholders as truly value added partners, but as I said, I will not relinquish control.”
Cardinale feels that Milan represent an undervalued asset in the international business world, especially as he purchased the club for €1.2 billion just months after Chelsea was sold for €5 billion.
There are different ways of growing Serie A in general, but specifically new stadiums and management that increases the value of the product as a whole.
The stadium project has dragged on for years and Milan just purchased land in San Donato Milanese for €20m where Cardinale hopes to build the new arena.
However, there were reports in the papers over the last few days that Cardinale had offered Inter the chance to work together on that new site, while the restructuring of San Siro is also still an option.
“I am totally ready to build the AC Milan stadium on my own, but I am also open to evaluating other options, without excluding a potential collaboration with Inter”, confirmed Cardinale.
Many foreign owners have found the existing rules on stadiums and infrastructure in general to be very frustrating, especially after Milan, Inter and Juventus saw plans to reduce Serie A to 18 teams rejected.
“I believe I can make AC Milan the number one club and at the same time help Serie A become competitive again. Also because in the current conditions the only way to push a club firmly to the top level is also to belong to one of the strongest leagues also as a system,” continued Cardinale.
“And the way to narrow this gap is for our league to regain the competitiveness at the European level of the golden years, with the fundamental contribution of our work as owners.
“I don’t understand why in Italy as soon as someone proposes new things you hear people say: Well, this is how it has always been done! I would understand if things were going well but instead we have a big gap to bridge.
“With (Lega Serie A President) Luigi De Siervo we now understand each other, he has understood that I can help on an international level: just think that with ESPN, Amazon, Fox and all the biggest US media companies I have been doing business successfully for years. My experience and my relationships with these networks can be a resource that can be of great help to Serie A.”
Milan, Inter and Juventus had originally signed up to the Super League project, but have since abandoned it and the tour of Italian clubs staged by A22 chief Bernd Reichart has been unsuccessful.
“I believe we should operate within the UEFA and the ECA frameworks, which best serve the interests of the game in Europe. The Super League – in whatever form it takes now – is not something we feel is right for AC Milan, Serie A or European football,” warns Cardinale.
[FOOTBALL AFFAIRS] (article in english) Milan owner Gerry Cardinale unveils his plans to Calcio e Finanza: from potential new partners to relations with Inter, from Serie A to the Super League, and a theoretical listing on the stock exchange in Milan and New York. The column… pic.twitter.com/cHDO8XE7zG
— Calcio e Finanza (@CalcioFinanza) February 24, 2024