In June RedBird decided that Milan did not need a sporting director. Transfers would be run by Hendrik Almstadt, analysis by a dedicated “Football Intelligence” unit, and Gerry Cardinale would have the final say himself. First choice Markus Krösche had, according to Matteo Moretto, said yes, but Eintracht Frankfurt said no.

The summer that followed says a lot about why that was a problem. At the start of August Milan had still not sold a single player, and Libero blamed an inexperienced new structure. Then everything happened at once in the final week of the window.

Rafael Leão was sold to Galatasaray for €38 million on 30 August. Christopher Nkunku, Santiago Giménez and Samuele Ricci were loaned out with options to buy. In came Gonçalo Ramos from PSG for €74 million plus bonuses, a new club record, and Diego Moreira for €50 million.

Moreira has been a success. Ramos has not. He scored against Venezia in August and has not had a single shot on target in the four matches since. He scored for Portugal against Norway on 4 October, which only makes it clearer that the problem lies in how Milan use him. A €74 million striker needs a team built to get him the ball in the box.

That is exactly the bigger picture a sporting director is supposed to take care of. Someone has to say that a record-signing striker and a coach who plays two number tens behind a lone striker must fit together, and that there must be a plan B on the left when Saelemaekers and Estupiñán get injured in the same week.

According to Fantacalcio, Cardinale now wants a sporting director alongside Amorim after all. Krösche is mentioned again, along with José Boto, who worked with Amorim at Benfica. The club denies it. Zlatan Ibrahimović meanwhile turned up at Milanello for the first time in half a year.

There is no shame in changing course. What is shameful is spending over €120 million on two players without anyone at the club whose main job is to think about the sporting big picture. Milan are fifth, two points behind Roma, and unbeaten in the league. That is good enough in October. In January, someone has to own the window.

Sources: Calcio e Finanza, Calciomercato.com, Sweeper, SempreMilan (in), SempreMilan (out), Yahoo Sports, Milanreports, Fantacalcio, beIN Sports

Image: AI-generated illustration

It is easy to forget that Diego Moreira cost €50 million. He was unveiled on 19 August, a few days before the season started, and was somewhat overshadowed by Gonçalo Ramos and the record fee paid to PSG. A month later, the Belgian from Strasbourg is the one everyone is talking about.

The fans have already made up their minds. Moreira won the September player of the month vote with around half the votes, ahead of Alphadjo Cissé and Adrien Rabiot. It is not hard to see why.

At the Olimpico Milan were 0–2 down at half-time and looked like a team without a plan. Moreira came on, volleyed home a cross after 65 minutes and fired in the equaliser from the edge of the box two minutes later. Against Lecce he needed four minutes on the pitch before he won the ball, went past Siebert and put away the 3–0. He is the youngest Milan player since 2004–05 to score two goals as a substitute in a Serie A match.

Yet he has started only one league match, and it went badly. In Turin he was used as right wing-back, with more defensive work than space to attack. He never got into the match and was substituted after an hour. Against Benfica he was on the bench from the start again.

That is the problem. Amorim has used Moreira as a second-half weapon, when the opposition is tired and the game opens up. It works, but it is a luxury Milan can no longer afford. Alexis Saelemaekers needs ankle surgery and will be out for months. Pervis Estupiñán injured his knee with Ecuador and is doubtful for Sassuolo.

The obvious solution is to give Moreira the left flank from the start, ideally in the attacking set-up with Chukwueze and Pulisic behind Ramos that Gazzetta has written about. He is at his best when he can cut inside onto his right foot, not when he has to run the line up and down in a back five.

There is a risk. Moreira is 22, and nobody knows whether he can handle 90 minutes every week with matches on both Sunday and Thursday. But a coach who asks for patience and says the team is “far from its potential” cannot at the same time leave his most effective player sitting and waiting.

Away at Sassuolo on Sunday is the perfect place to start.

Sources: acmilan.com (signing), acmilan.com (MVP Lazio), Milanisti Channel, SempreMilan, Pianeta Milan, Milanreports

Image: AI-generated illustration

San Siro opened on 19 September 1926 with a derby. Inter won 6–3. Milan celebrated the day after, before the match against Lecce, with a ceremony and DJ Dardust on the stadium roof. The team responded with a 3–0 win. It was a fine evening.

It came after a humiliating Wednesday. Benfica won 2–0 at San Siro in the week the stadium turned 100, and the Mexican newspaper Récord wrote that Benfica had ruined the centenary. That is not entirely unfair.

But the biggest problem with the anniversary is not the result against Benfica. It is that Milan and Inter have bought the stadium from the city council for €197 million in order to demolish it. The new stadium is to be designed by Foster + Partners and MANICA and hold around 71,500 spectators. Only part of the Curva Sud will be preserved. The target is Euro 2032.

The matter is far from settled. Five appeals against the sale are pending at the regional administrative court (TAR), and Milan prosecutors have opened an investigation. The demolition alone is estimated to cost more than €115 million.

We understand the arguments. A modern stadium brings in the revenue Milan need to compete with the best in Europe. But a club that uses its centenary to sell nostalgia should also be honest about what it is planning.

That applies especially this year. Franco Baresi died on 31 July, aged 66. Milan are playing the whole season with “6 PER SEMPRE” on their shirts, and according to Gazzetta the club is considering naming the Curva Sud or the new stadium after him. No decision has been made.

Here is a suggestion: if the Curva Sud is to be preserved, let it bear Baresi's name. Then the new stadium will at least have one part that remembers where it comes from.

Sources: Avvenire, acmilan.com (ceremony), Récord, FCInter1908, Il Post, acmilan.com (6 per sempre), Football Ground Guide

Image: AI-generated illustration

Rúben Amorim came to Milan with a reputation from Manchester United: a coach who would rather lose with his system than win without it. That is why Sunday against Lecce was more interesting than the 3–0 win itself.

For the first time this season Milan defended with a back four. Mario Gila moved out to right-back, and the team switched between 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1. Amorim said it himself after the match: “What I felt in the last few matches is the same as what I felt at Manchester United, and I cannot make the same mistake.”

It is an admission that deserves respect. Milan have been weak in the first half in almost every match. Against Juventus the first shot on target came after 68 minutes. At the Olimpico the team were 0–2 down at half-time. A system that only works after three substitutions does not work.

But the praise stops there. Four days before Lecce, Amorim dropped five regular starters against Benfica, explaining that he has to rotate, “especially with a 40-year-old player”. Modrić was on the bench, Hutchinson got his first start, and Filippo Terracciano played centre-back in a European tie. The result was Benfica's first ever win over Milan and boos from San Siro both at half-time and after the final whistle.

After the match Amorim said the players were nervous, “the three defenders too”. That is a strange thing to say about a back line he had put together himself for the first time.

Rotation is necessary with nine matches in under a month. But there is a difference between resting two players and replacing half the spine of the team. When Amorim also says that “every week there will be a new starting XI”, it is no wonder Matteo Moretto reports questions in the dressing room and a less than ideal relationship with some of the older players.

Amorim is unbeaten in his first five league matches, something no Milan coach has managed since 1979–80. That is a good start. But next time it is the Europa League, against Salzburg on 15 October, he should field a team the players recognise. Flexibility is a strength. Experiments in matches that count are not.

Sources: Flashscore, LiveScore/SempreMilan, La Sicilia, TuttoMercatoWeb, SOS Fanta, beIN Sports

Image: AI-generated illustration