Former AC Milan SD returns to Italian football
Almost four years later, former AC Milan sporting director Massimiliano Mirabelli returns to work in Italian football from Serie C.
After having heard him speak of AC Milan several times, with harsh criticisms towards the current management, Massimiliano Mirabelli returns to Italian football as sporting director. He does it starting from the “bottom”, since he will work for a team that now plays in Serie C with Padova.
Padova have announced that Mirabelli will serve as sporting director of the club with a contract until June 2024. The Calabrian manager replaces Sean Sogliano, who together with assistant Fabio Gatti has ended his collaboration with the Venetian club. Currently Padova are second in the Group A standings, just two points behind leaders Sudtirol, so they are candidates for promotion to Serie B.
Massimiliano Mirabelli became Milan’s sporting director on April 2017, a few days after Fininvest sold AC Milan club to Yonghong Li’s Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux. He was strongly desired by the new CEO Marco Fassone, who had known him well during their time together at Inter. At the Nerazzurri he had been an scout and then chief scout. In his curriculum there are also collaborations with Rende, Empoli, Cosenza, Ternana and Sunderland.
Mirabelli’s first signing campaign as AC Milan sporting director was sensational. Over 200 million euros were invested to sign eleven players: Antonio Donnarumma, Andrea Conti, Ricardo Rodriguez, Leonardo Bonucci, Mateo Musacchio, Lucas Biglia, Franck Kessie, Fabio Borini, Hakan Calhanoglu, Nikola Kalinic and Andre Silva. A couple of players were sold for about 60 million, in addition to the complicated renewal of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Despite the large investments and the declared goal of qualifying for the Champions League, the team (coached first by Vincenzo Montella and then by Gennaro Gattuso) finished sixth in Serie A standings. In Europa League, the Rossoneri were eliminated in the round of 16 by Arsenal.
At the end of the season, financial problems emerged and Yonghong Li lost AC Milan to Elliott Management. The American fund became the new owners of the club after Yonghong Li defaulted on his loan. The proprietor change was followed by a revolution at management level with Mirabelli and Fassone relieved of their duties.
Before leaving the Rossoneri club, Mirabelli renewed Alessio Romagnoli’s contract and signed Pepe Reina, Ivan Strinic and Alen Halilovic on a free transfer. Since 24 July 2018, he has remained without any position in the football world despite some rumors that he was approached by various teams. The 52-year-old hopes to relaunch his career at Padova where he finds Antonio Donnarumma, whom he himself had brought back to Milan in the summer of 2017.
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