Paolo Maldini completed 36 signings during his time as Milan‘s technical area chief, including the likes of Rafael Leao, Theo Hernandez and Charles De Ketelaere: here are all his deals.
The legendary defender is set to leave the Rossoneri after a meeting with owner Gerry Cardinale on Monday. Sporting director Frederic Massara, who was spotted at Casa Milan on Tuesday, will also walk out.
Maldini and Massara completed 36 signings during their time at the club and their decisions had a huge impact on the Rossoneri’s title-winning campaign in 2021-22.
Rafael Leao, Theo Hernandez, Olivier Giroud, Fikayo Tomori and Mike Maignan were arguably among the smartest purchases, but last season’s signings were not up to the task.
Divock Origi joined on a free transfer from Liverpool, signing a €4m-a-year contract but has never settled in at Milanello, while the most expensive signature of 2022, Charles De Ketelaere, failed to justify his €32m price tag.
According to reports in Italy, Cardinale wants to adopt a new approach on the market, based on scouting and algorithms, while Maldini requested bigger investments, signing experienced players to raise the bar.
Fans appear to back Maldini and have criticised Cardinale on social media after demanding a bigger transfer budget during Milan’s 3-1 win over Hellas Verona on Sunday.
Here are all the transfers completed by Maldini and Massara from 2019.
Lucas Paqueta from Flamengo – €38.4m
Krzysztof Piatek from Genoa – €35m
Rade Krunic from Empoli – €8.6m
Theo Hernandez from Real Madrid – €22.8m
Rafael Leao from Lille – €29.5m
Ismael Bennacer from Empoli – €17.2m
Ante Rebic from Eintracht Frankfurt – €7m
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Free agent
Alexis Saelemakers from Anderlecht – €10m
Asmir Begovic from Bournemouth – Loan
Simon Kjaer from Sevilla – €3.6m
Pierre Kalulu from Lyon – €1m
Brahim Diaz from Real Madrid – loan
Sandro Tonali from Brescia – €19.5m
Ciprian Tatarusanu from Lyon – €1m
Jens Petter Hauge from Bodo/Glimt – €4.8m
Soualiho Meïté from Torino – loan
Diogo Dalot from Man Utd – loan
Fikayo Tomori from Chelsea – €31m
Mario Mandzukic – Free transfer
Mike Maignan from Lille – €15.4m
Alessandro Florenzi from Roma – €2.7m
Olivier Giroud from Chelsea – €3m
Fodé Ballo Touré from Monaco – €5.4m
Pietro Pellegri from Monaco – loan
Tiemoue Bakayoko from Chelsea – loan
Antonio Mirante – Free transfer
Junior Messias from Crotone
Marko Lazetic from Red Star – €4.5m
Yacine Adli from Bordeaux – €10m
Divock Origi – Free transfer
Charles De Ketelaere from Club Brugge – €32m
Malick Thiaw – Loan with option to buy from Schalke 04
Aster Vranckx – Loan with option to buy from Wolfsburg
Sergino Dest – Loan with option to buy from Barcelona
Devis Vasquez from Guaranì – €470k