Milan are getting ready to play their last match of 2020, a year that saw them turn the page after a very difficult phase. The rossoneri's executive director Ivan Gazidis discussed how the project has evolved with the club this year during a wide ranging interview with the Associated Press
"We are seeing young players with personality, with energy, with commitment and with character driving the team forward,” Gazidis said.
Milan decided to bring back Zlatan Ibrahimovic to lead the new project with young players, an important decision “Zlatan is a force of nature,” Gazidis said. “It can be one of his biggest accomplishments in his career. I think he’s approached it with incredible passion and seriousness.”
Gazidis worked for all but a few months of his 10 years at Arsenal with one manager. Only once did he have to hire a coach — Unai Emery as Wenger’s ill-fated successor.
“There is a style to this team and the city,” Gazidis said from Milano. “Although the club has been going through a tough time in recent years ... this club resonates, and it just needs a little bit of love and care.”
“It’s dangerous to think you’ve cracked the code — we certainly haven’t,” Gazidis said. “We’re in a good moment now, but there will be difficult moments.”
Gazidis was hired late in 2018 in the months after U.S.-based hedge fund Elliott Management took over control of a club with debts of 164 million euros (then $190 million) after Chinese owner Li Yonghong missed a deadline to repay part of a loan.
“We inherited quite a challenging situation,” Gazidis said.
Milan lost a record 195 million euros ($220 million) in the year to June 30 due to the pause in playing because of the coronavirus. The ongoing pandemic disruption has seen games played without fans.
“It’s obviously knocked football very hard,” Gazidis said. “I dread to think what this crisis would have meant for football had it struck before financial fair play. So I think, the impact has been not as dramatic as it could have been, but it’s dramatic.”
