The secrets of Milan Lab. Chinese ownership stunned: here’s the project

Built in 2002 by Adriano Galliani’s request and under Jean Pierre Meersseman patronage, for the cost of nearly five billion old liras, MilanLab is one of the rossoneri’s most prestigious ventures.

Unfortunately after the successful era of Carlo Ancelotti the experiment decelerated a bit and there was no technological evolution that was required. In 2013, however, the project restarted, with the center that has returned to be avantgarde and much envied around the world. The current manager is Daniele Tognaccini, who recently refused the offer to enter Leonardo’s staff at Antalyaspor in Turkey. In this regard, Premium Sport seized the opportunity to talk about Milan Lab and above all from the fact that the new ownership was stunned by the efficiency of the scientific research center. In fact, more than 2 million data are stored: it is the largest database in the sports world.

Over the years, Milan Lab has intrigued big companies such as Microsoft and other top clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Boca Juniors in football, San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat in the NBA, Miami Dolphins in the NFL and McLaren in F1 who want to replicate the same methodology. According to Premium Sport, Milan’s management would like to export the technology of the rossoneri medical center to China as well. New ideas in view of the Milan-Beijing axis, following the agreement signed a few months ago with the China Next Generation Education Foundation (CNGEF) which plans to develop football through the red and black colors in the Asian country.

In a recent inquiry from Ilgiorno.it editorial office, some of the secrets are revealed. Each player of AC Milan has been carefully mapped with several tests: some – such as the genetic or psychological traits – are done only once, while others at a daily basis. One of the most interesting secrets is the training of the vestibular apparatus and somatosensory inputs to improve coordination and responsiveness to an unpredictable event (such as, for example, an opponent’s simple intervention).

Manuel Locatelli
Manuel Locatelli (@ Getty Images)

The most spectacular of these exercises seems to have come out directly from “Star Wars”: the player is placed inside a 360-degree machine and must hit the target with a laser. Remarkable the improvement of the reflexes by touching bright led on a wall: from sloth to a ninja in three months. One of the recent examples has seen Manuel Locatelli as protagonist: one year of specific exercises proposed by MilanLab have helped him gain about 20% of mobility, correcting his way of running.