Some of Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani’s comments today rang alarm bells for the supporters, as he warned there could be more big player sales in the Sandro Tonali to Newcastle United mould.
Furlani was speaking at the DLA Piper Sport Forum in Milan and noted that when Elliott Management took over from Yonghong Li, the club was “on the verge of bankruptcy.”
While he reassured things have changed since then and they are growing revenue to reinvest in the squad, he also had to admit that much of the current transfer campaign was funded by selling fan favourite Tonali to Newcastle.
He was asked if there could be more big player sales in a similar mould and if the top stars would remain in future.
“I don’t know, we’ll see,” was the less than confident response.
“In the last year, Milan ran at a profit for the first time in 17 years. Obviously, economic success is tied to sporting success. We must be competitive, yes, but not competitive at all costs. We are competitive and keep an eye on costs too.”
Furlani also outlined the dangers that Serie A clubs could run into if the Government follows through with its threats to revoke the Growth Decree, a system that allows them to pay only 50 per cent of taxes on salaries when bringing in players from abroad.
“It will all fall apart if the Growth Decree is removed. It would mean the destruction of Italian football. Since the Growth Decree was introduced, our clubs achieved great results in Europe, because we are a talent-based business.
“We are behind the other markets on economic terms, it’s impossible to build a new stadium, there are limits on non-EU players, limits on the length of contracts… The only thing that can make us competitive with the other European leagues is the Growth Decree.”
Furlani argues that the teams need star names in order to raise sponsorship funds and those in turn are reinvested in the squad.
“Our sponsors are foreign capital, the moment we cannot offer a good product without the best actors on the scene, it becomes pointless making projects. It seems utter madness on a national level to remove the Growth Decree.”