New Milan owners RedBird held their first press conference today, confirming Paolo Maldini will remain as director after Elliott Management passed over control. ‘I hate losing. I wanna win.’
The takeover paperwork was signed today to complete the €1.2bn deal, although the expected closing is no later than September 2022.
Elliott retain a minority financial interest and some seats on the board of directors, but the big question marks were over directors Maldini and Frederic ‘Ricky’ Massara.
Their contracts are due to expire on June 30 and Maldini in particular warned his situation was far from certain, as he would not remain if the club intended only to float along and not step up to the next level.
RedBird founder Cardinale spoke to reporters at Casa Milan today and practically the first thing he did was confirm talks with Maldini were “positive” and they would “continue” working together at the club.
The American apologised for not speaking the language of his forebears, but his words were clear to all Rossoneri supporters.
“I hate losing. I wanna win,” declared Cardinale.
He was a guest of Elliott during the Scudetto celebrations, confessing in 25 years of sports investment, he’d never seen anything like it as the open top bus travelled through the streets of Milan to Piazza Duomo.
“I’ve experienced the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA, but nothing gave me the excitement I felt that day. I hope we can all experience it many more times with our fans.”