AC Milan has changed its face this summer, and not just on the pitch. After a particularly disappointing season and an end to the financial year which profoundly called into question the functioning of the club, Gerry Cardinale decided to take control much more directly. The owner of RedBird, long criticized for his distance from the daily Rossonero, has this time increased his stays in Italy, meetings at Casa Milan and exchanges with the different components of the sports sector. A new involvement which was accompanied by strong decisions and a real upheaval of the organization chart. The management has been largely reshuffled, Massimo Calvelli has taken a central place in the functioning of the club and the stated desire is to build a Milan that is more ambitious, more competitive and above all much more coherent in its sporting choices. He is accompanied by Hendrik Almstadt and Bobby Gardiner who will be responsible for the sporting aspect, while Donato Lomonte will take responsibility for scouting. Jovane Kirovski and Vincenzo Vergine will also retain their positions within the new organization. The change also affected the bench with the arrival of a new coach with Ruben Amorim, while the transfer window confirmed this desire to start on new bases with significant investments, in particular for Gonçalo Ramos, Diego Moreira and Mario Gila.
After several years marked by largely delegated management, Cardinale now wants to be at the heart of decisions and put the sports project at the center of its priorities. This new philosophy necessarily changes the balance within the club. Cardinale no longer wants to reproduce the model of the first years of his presidency, during which several leaders had great autonomy and where the American owner appeared relatively distant from the daily functioning of Milan. From now on, discussions are more collective, decisions must be shared and each sector is called upon to work within a much more integrated logic. The XXL transfer window carried out this summer symbolizes this new approach, as does the desire to quickly give the new coach the means to work with a squad that meets his requirements. But this transformation doesn’t stop with the players or the bench. Management is also considering the arrival of a new Head of Football, with Markus Krösche cited as a particularly serious avenue, proof that Cardinale still wishes to reshape its sports organization. The Milanese owner wants to build a structure in which no personality would have completely autonomous power and where the various decisions would go directly to him. A silent but profound revolution which could affect one of the men who seemed best established in this new Milan, Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Zlatan in the footsteps of Furlani, Moncada, Tare and company?
Because if the Swede officially remains an advisor and maintains a privileged relationship with Cardinale, his status could be directly affected by this new organization. Since his return to Milan, Ibrahimović had gradually established himself as a key figure in the RedBird project, enjoying significant influence on sporting matters and privileged access to the owner. His aura, his rossonero past and his proximity to Cardinale had allowed him to settle into a particularly comfortable position within the club. However, the new operation desired by the American owner could precisely reduce this singularity, according to the Italian press. The desire to set up a real working group, with clearly defined responsibilities and the potential arrival of a Head of Football with strong experience in sports management, could mechanically reduce the space occupied today by the former striker. The idea is not necessarily to push Ibrahimović towards the exit, since the relationship between the two men remains solid, but to profoundly evolve his role. And in a Milan where Cardinale now wants to favor skills, structure and the collective over strong personalities, the Swede’s influence no longer appears as untouchable as it could have been a few months ago.
This is precisely what makes the situation particularly interesting at the start of the season. Ibrahimović is not officially threatened and there is nothing to confirm that a break is currently being considered, but his status is clearly confronted with a new reality. The possible arrival of a Head of Football, the rise in power of Calvelli and the daily involvement of Cardinale could create a new balance in which the Swede would no longer necessarily be the owner’s main interlocutor on sporting questions. The case of Markus Krösche is particularly revealing since his profile corresponds perfectly to the stated desire to further structure the football sector and to rely on real management expertise. If the German were to join Milan with a significant scope of responsibilities, Ibrahimović’s role would necessarily have to be redefined. The Swede today retains a central place in the Rossonero environment, but the 2026 version of Cardinale’s Milan no longer seems to want to operate around a single strong man. The owner decided to take control, increase investments and rebuild his organization. A development which could ultimately destroy the role which still seemed untouchable by Zlatan Ibrahimović.
