Milan sporting director Paolo Maldini has defended Milan’s project and the club’s recruitment following their exit from the Champions League.
Maldini has been the key reason for Milan’s rise back to the top over the last couple of years and he has used shrewd signings to help manager Stefano Pioli. And while all of it came together last season when the Rossoneri won the Serie A, it hasn’t quite worked out this season and the 3-0 loss to Inter on aggregate in the Champions League semi-final shows that.
After the loss, Maldini spoke to Sky about the club’s project and he defended how recruitment is done at the club. The ex-Rossoneri defender stated:
“De Ketelaere is an example. It would have been much easier and much less risky for us to go to for someone like Dybala. Would it have been right for our project? No. We have an idea, we want to build a young team while sometimes taking risks with young people. This was the case for Tonali in the first year and for Charles in this one. But it is the idea of football and investments that we share with the ownership.”
Charles de Ketelaere’s move to the Rossoneri hasn’t worked out, with the Belgian failing to score even once. Yacine Adli’s move hasn’t worked out either, with the midfielder struggling to adapt to the former Champions. Malick Thiaw has done well for the side but he was inculcated into the team quite late. Divock Origi did arrive in the summer but the Belgian has not got going either.
It has already been reported that if Milan fail to qualify for the Champions League, Maldini’s future can be in doubt.
Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN
