Leonardo has backed Paolo Maldini’s decision to reject a directorial role at Milan under their new Chinese owners. “Someone like him must have guarantees.”
Maldini and Sino-Europe Sports were at loggerheads last week over the retired defender going public with his lack of faith in the consortium’s vision for Milan, and Leonardo believes his former teammate was right to scrutinise the Chinese.
Leonardo has backed Paolo Maldini’s decision to reject a directorial role at Milan under their new Chinese owners. “Someone like him must have guarantees.”
Maldini and Sino-Europe Sports were at loggerheads last week over the retired defender going public with his lack of faith in the consortium’s vision for Milan, and Leonardo believes his former teammate was right to scrutinise the Chinese.
“Paolo was certain to accept Milan’s offer, he had not the slightest doubt, the possibility of saying ‘no’ didn’t exist,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
“A return to Milan was a desire within him, but what disappointed him was their approach, their ways, the lack of real knowledge about the future and lack of clarity about his role.
“If an offer came to me like that, without me knowing the owner or who was leading the club, I can tell you that my requests would be very similar to those made by Paolo.
“A call to my phone? No, no, no, no-one has ever called me, I’ve heard nothing from Milan. The point is that for Paolo, it’s his home and if he says ‘yes’, he becomes the guarantor of this new project.
“Had he accepted it, it would’ve been the biggest endorsement for the Chinese project, not Fassone or anyone else.
“Paolo wanted to find out who the owners were and what they wanted. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Fassone, but Fassone himself doesn’t know everything, he doesn’t know all the Chinese.
“He has a reference among those who created the consortium but doesn’t know everyone involved. What’s certain is only the sale, managed by this consortium, but the names aren’t known.
“The reference in contact with Fassone is Han Li. If I’m Maldini, at my home, where I’ve been for over 30 years, I want to know exactly who they are and what these people want.
“Paolo tried to protect Milan and understand exactly who were behind [the consortium].
“Paolo wanted to know. Someone like him needs to have certainty about the role he’d be given to his figure within a project
“He’s well aware that he’s never done anything at a directorial level, but with his sporting history, it wouldn’t ask much of him.
“Paolo wanted to work in the area of sports management with freedom to act, but someone like him must have guarantees.”