Paolo Maldini: AC Milan do not want me at the club

Paolo Maldini has claimed that he has been repeatedly frustrated in his attempts to embark on a coaching career with AC Milan, and has now arrived at the conclusion that the club do not want him back. Paris Saint- Germain sporting director Leonardo revealed earlier this week that he is keen for his former Rossoneri team-mate to take up a coaching role with the French club, and that the legendary Italian defender is currently thinking things over. The news has raised the question as to why Maldini has never been taken on by Milan and the 43- year-old claims that it was not for the want of trying on his part. "[Club president Silvio] Berlusconi had spoken clearly [about it] and even [board member] Barbara [Berlusconi] had mentioned my name but the reality is that I have not been offered anything,” Maldini told Gazzetta dello Sport. “In these years I have asked to return before Leonardo [was coach] and then Allegri, but I always found a locked door at the club. “Leonardo would have wanted me close to the team; I would have been useful for him in any role. For Allegri, I would be the meeting point between team and society. “One explanation is simple - AC Milan do not want to take me back.” When asked if he has been offered a position within coach Carlo Ancelotti's backroom team at PSG, Maldini replied: "For now, no, but this does not mean that it won’t happen. “I met the president: there is great mutual respect with him as well as Leo and Carlo. “PSG is a club that is restructuring. They have not won [anything] for some time in France but they want to start doing so at the highest level in Europe. “There, everything is changing, everything . “I know what I can give: experience, love for this sport, the desire to engage in a serious project. But I never asked anything of anybody.” Maldini attended PSG’s victory over Toulouse last weekend but he insisted that it would be a mistake to read too much into his presence at the Parc des Princes. "In Paris I went only to find two friends,” he explained. “Leo has been inviting me for a long time. “We decided to surprise Ancelotti on the occasion of his first game [in charge] - even if Carlo knew everything [in the end].” Returning to Milan’s reluctance to welcome him back into the fold, Maldini mused that it could have something to do with his propensity for straight talking. "I'm not afraid of telling it like it is and maybe that might be the problem,” he confessed. "Down the years I've acquired an intellectual independence which I don't intend to give up." Meanwhile, Maldini admitted that he has been really enjoying himself of late playing seven-a-side football. "After a lifetime as a defender, I have a taste for dribbling and scoring goals!” Maldini made league 647 appearances for Milan during his 24 years with the club as a player.

From what I understand, just because AC haven't offered him a job yet, doesn't mean we don't want him at the club

I would think a backroom staff member would have to leave before Maldini could arrive

BiasedMilanFan3 wrote:From what I understand, just because AC haven't offered him a job yet, doesn't mean we don't want him at the club

I would think a backroom staff member would have to leave before Maldini could arrive

who could be more important than Maldini , just tell me.
There are no excuses , 2009 is way back and the club haven't really attempted to take him back after these years. The worst part is , Maldini wanted back already and the club still does nothing.

Really frustrated about this case,we are talking about Maldini here, the doors of the club should always be open to him ,after all he gave for Milan.

Here's the best English translation for Paolo's interview.

http://dailymilan.com/news/ac-milan-are-not-a-magical-team-anymore-paolo-maldini/

In all honesty, I read all of the links to try to see if Maldini's words were twisted, but most of it say the same thing and it's disheartening and sad. Talking purely from the point of Maldini, it's just depressing that probably the most decorated player in the club's history and probably the biggest icon the club's had is no longer even feeling welcome at the club. I couldn't believe that Berlu hasn't even been in touch with Paolo after he retired until the 25th anniversary party. As a fan, it's seriously depressing to think that the biggest constant during my time as a Milan fan is now "rejected" by the club's management. I find it depressing enough that Baresi's role in the club is marginal at best.

Galliani's idea that a sporting director is no longer necessary seems stupid as you need directors who can uphold the sporting standards of the club and help manage the sporting side of the club (also what role is Braida in then?). The person in this role has to understand football from the perspective of players and coaches and sports psychology. Galliani can't do this because for all of the history and success he's got in football, he's got no experience or authority at the level which he can relate to players and coaches. Leonardo, when at Milan was a technical director. Besides his obvious duties in scouting Brazilian talent, I think it's pretty clear he was closely involved in working with Ancelotti, the players and Galliani. To me, he was essentially fulfilling the duties of a sporting director during his time with us, liaising with higher management in the direction the club was taking, working closely with the coaching and playing staff to meet their needs and help control the dressing room and finally playing a huge role when the club acquired new players. I've frowned at times when Jespswe used to loath Galliani for our current state but It seems like he was right to the entirety.

Maldini's clearly right about Braida. There's only so much one man can do to assess players across the world and look to buy them, especially one who has limited success/experience as a player and is now ageing as a director. He needs help, at least one other to support him, if not two if we're seriously looking to make an effort in bringing in younger talents who haven't already reached their peaks. Braida's supposedly our sporting director, but he's rarely involved with the players and coaches, spending what seems the vast majority of time scouting and assessing potential transfer targets.

This leads me to another point. Leonardo and Allegri have been heavily criticized during their time as Milan coach, but you can't help but feel sorry for them as they've both identified the need for someone who can help keep the culture at the club, clearly acknowledging the need of sporting directors. Allegri's situation in particular interested me, as he clearly wanted Maldini at Milan (this isn't the first time this has been mentioned) and for him to essentially work out all the details, only to simply not contact Maldini after making a lot of efforts to get him on board seems more than a little fishy. My bet would be on someone higher up stopping further progress. The most obvious person seems Galliani, someone who doesn't seem to get on with Maldini and someone rumored to be anything but keen on Maldini's return, but for now I'm speculating. The funny thing is, according to Maldini, Allegri wanted him for exactly the reasons we criticize Allegri, to be an important man-manager for the players and help him identify when he's making technical mistakes from another perspective, something which Galliani can't do.

I'll end by saying this interview brings to light a lot of the problems in Italian football and Milan. We need guys like Maldini, Costacurta and Baresi around to lead the club into the future (not from a financial perspective, but a sporting one), but it does seem the older generation of management won't let that happen. There's clearly a lot of politics involved, as it makes no sense as to why guys like Costacurta and Maldini haven't been offered roles in the club, while someone like Inzaghi, who to be frank doesn't even have half the history of these guys is suddenly coaching at youth level with no experience, during a period when we're apparently trying stupidly hard to develop successful youth players and could use coaches at that level who have experience and proven skills. I'm extremely bitter about the fact that many of the strongest personalities during the Berlu era no longer have any real involvement at the club, but also I'm worried because if there's much truth in this interview, the management of the club is damaging the club's chances for success in the future.

This man deserves to own Milan.

I read this interview and it is very sad to see how we have treated Maldini. Maldini deserves better. We should have offered him a place in the club years ago

Real *bleep* shame. One of the best ever. He's been there his whole life smh

We still need Maldini on the field

How good are his sons ? This name deserves to be on the football field.

Both are still young, but quite good.

Il Diavolo wrote:

likeastar wrote:How good are his sons ? This name deserves to be on the football field.

I know that, amazing. But some newer clips ? Christian is his older son, what position does he play ?

Christian plays as a RB, but Cesare Maldini, Paolo Maldini's father said Daniel the one in the video is a lot more talented and likely to succeed than Christian, or well that's what he told al jazeera.

Maldini:

"I had two interviews with Barbara. After the division of responsibilities, I have been touted as the successor to Galliani's sporting duties, but I have not heard from anyone.

"I was ready for a role in sports. Milan have many employees but are missing someone from a sporting perspective.

"Galliani is a great leader, but can't understand players. He does everything himself and this is not possible. If you only sign the players of one Fifa agent, sometimes you can make the deal, sometimes you can't.

"At the bottom of it, there must be knowledge. [Former director Ariedo] Braida played a marginal role in recent years, before there was Leonardo, who helped Galliani understand whether a player was suitable to Milan or not.

"I remember when Leo wanted me at all costs to become sports director, Galliani said: 'We don't need him'."

Gahhh... This is more frustrating then anything else. We're doing crap on the pitch, but it wasn't just on-pitch success that made Milan what it was. It was the tradition, the family and all that off-pitch stuff that made us different (better). The Milan DNA.

It's sad to see that we are losing that as well. Paolo, of all people in the world, deserves to be treated MUCH better then this. Don't call the man with a prospect and then forget about it. This is Maldini FFS! We should be naming stadia after the guy, and this is how we repay him.  

This makes me sadder than any on pitch failures TBH. Much sadder..

why , ffs. Why. I always suspected this was on Galliani and it's finally confirmed , by non other than Maldini himself. I'll just drop it once again in here as well , we need Maldini back in the club .

At this point , i am genuinely surprised that Maldini has yet to turn his back on Milan and simply go offer somewhere else. This is hilariously stupid on Galliani's part , because it's solely about him Maldini doesn't work in Milan today. Maldini i am sure he could find a job in football anywhere almost , yet the club he really wants to work for , won't have him .

How ridiculous and pathetic is that , when that man has been the most important player in this club history , not to mention he is a legend of the game itself? His knowledge of the club and the game , along with his personality and character , could help Milan more than we can imagine right now.

How fkn messed up can Galliani be , to go against Maldini ? It's outrageous really and the only reason i can think of , is that he is afraid of Maldini taking the credit for any progress we may have to show. Pathetic stuff . No wonder why Milan is where it is.

Without money doesn't matter who is the sporting director I'm afraid. At least Galliani has many years of respectable experience in that regard which puts him ahead of Maldini.

danyjr wrote:Without money doesn't matter who is the sporting director I'm afraid. At least Galliani has many years of respectable experience in that regard which puts him ahead of Maldini.

Not true. Galliani has a lot of experience when it comes to managing finances, negotiations and whatnot, but when it comes to identifying weaknesses in the squad and fixing them, he has no clue. And that never was his responsibility until now.

Before this, we had Leonardo, who did an amazing job, and then Braida, who was OK. But now the responsibility is solely on Galliani and if you look at our recent purchases, they are nothing more than pathetic. The amount of crap that we have in our squad is ridiculous.

Sure, we don't have a lot of money. But the little resources we do have are being wasted on "champions" like Essien, Muntari, Matri and Co.

Maldini knows how things work on the pitch. And having played with so many different types of players over they years, I am sure he will be much better at identifying talent. No one is asking for Maldini to replace Galliani, but simply to supplement the management.

I see your point but I don't see who else you could sign other than declining rejects like Essien and Matri.

I mean I can name 20 teams in Europe who are much better prepared financially to get the players they want, 3-4 of them in Italy alone. How could the arrival of Maldini help this issue? He may say he'd like to have Mr. X and Mr. Y but the truth is teams with more money and better scouting will snatch these talents before you can move.

To me it is a waste of time getting Maldini in and not letting him do anything due to financial difficulties.

I would rather sign no one and promote youth than have Matri and Essien. I agree with what you said about many teams being better then us financially.

A couple seasons ago, our management decided that we will change our policies, and focus on youth from then onwards. And we did make a few decent signings (El Sharaawy and Saponara being the highlights). We added a lot of new players in our Primavera and considerably increased the youth budget. And that started showing results as well, with players like De Sciglio and Cristante breaking the first team. And that policy was the very reason we let Pirlo go. Galliani said we would not offer anyone above 30 a contract longer then a year, and so Pirlo left.

But now, we have completely abandoned that. Our club has no direction. Money is a huge factor in any team being good, but it also requires a strong management. Napoli, e.g. are not financially stronger then us. But they have a proper system in place and are doing great without crazy amounts of money.

Dany , having read your thoughts on this , i can say you are right in a few things , such as Maldini being inexperienced . Ok. This crisis though , if it only made us learn one thing , was that Galliani is majorly at fault for this situation. He even offered his resignation a few months back.

Berlusconi said , this Milan is a team build bad. And he's fkn right , Galliani build that team , almost on his own.

Our budget these days is meagre , both in comparison to current elit standards or that of our past. Yes , as to that , Maldini wouldn't prove any better. Yet a very important factor you might be missing is , whilst Maldini would have a say on transfers , he won't be the one to decide , conduct and close deals . He would simply offer advise as to whether said transfer should be worth it or not. Much needed , trully important and solid advice. Thats not a waste of time ffs..

Galliani has been a CEO , all this time , a CEO who like i said before and now being confirmed by Maldini too , does everything himself. I am sure that man wipes the fkn floor in his own office , because he needs to be sure it will be done exactly like he wants it to be done. That's the kind of man Galliani is. He's one of those who hold dear the phrase "if you wany anything done , do it yourself".

That worked for Milan and we can never stop being gratefull to him for everything he has given to Milan all this time. Anybody who doesn't aknowledge this simple fact , has issues . Yet here we are , not decades ago , but in 2014 , stuck with Galliani who's stuck in the old school ways ; ways that modern football left behind for good . And that was quite yesterday.

We simply need Maldini's help in the club , even if he doesn't replace Galliani in 5+ years from now. He will never fully replace Galliani , just a part of his duties . Truth be told , nobody will trully replace Galliani , because he is the very last of his kind. Anyway.

Just to give you an example of how influental this man can be , he once critisiced Balotelli that he never drops back to help with corners and that Ibrahimovic always did. Balotelli actually has some clearances and frequently takes places to defend against corners and that goes on since Paolo said that. From all people , Balotelli did listen and still continues to do so often. Maldini managed this simple thing being outside of the club , and on top of that , not even speaking directly to him.

There's no telling how much help Maldini could be for Milan and especially during this time of crisis , should he take an active daily role at Milan again , being close to the players. Because like he said , Galliani doesn't understand players ; a simple fact , he was talking about Balo to mature and stuff like that and days later , himself confirms he had adviced him to change hairstyle..

I've seen enough , really . Galliani understands money , transfer dealing and basically everything you can think managerial like in a club. Yet he is mostly needed to deliver and finalise the progress of the field. He shouldn't be the SOLE one to call what we need , because his roles conflict together.. and like we have seen , it always come back to bite us.

With a proper budget , everybody would want that guy on their team. Every single club in the world. But even Galliani on his own is not enough , especially now when money are difficult to find for Milan. We need Maldini and more.

If Maldini can be influential, get him in, or anyone who can improve the team for that matter.

I hope you also get some money...somehow. It is just sad to see Milan like this. I hope you can pick yourselves up faster than Liverpool did.

If it's sad for a neutral like you who respects Milan , imagine what it is for us to watch Milan in such a state. It is devastating. I still can't accept the fact that we won't be in the CL next season . Damn , i'd take the EL in an instant right now , but we won't even manage that in the end. I can't imagine Milan not playing around europe , it's simply unheard of. I could deal with almost anything and i've seen stuff in my time as a Milan fan , but this season has simply been a catastrophy.

As for money , well , we can only hope things somehow improve but.. unless Milan moves on to a stadium that we own , there's only Berlusconi to bail us out ... yeah , what will happen , i wonder. Unless something happens straight away this summer , something essentially impactfull that will restore some power into our batteries , Milan could take the same path as Liverpool.

Tbh , i expect Milan to move out of the San Siro after the CL final which San Siro will hold in 2016. Untill then i am not sure how Milan will fare , even though we will have a better picture come September 1.

"I respect that current #Milan management don't see me as the right person to have a role inside the club."

"Problem isn't that #Maldini doesn't work in #Milan, its that so many former players don't. This wouldn't happen in #Bayern."

"What I regret is that many former players want to give back to #Milan but have no possibility. it is not just about me."

Maldini: "Is Galliani the problem? Milan lacks on the level of competence, the basis of the technical area is full of gaps."

Maldini: "I respect the fact that the current [Milan] management does not see me the right person to have a role inside the club."

Maldini: "Milan is missing some level of expertise, especially for what concerns the technical area, which is full of gaps."

Maldini: "If one day [I got the opportunity to take] a role in a club like Milan what I want is to have my right to choose."

Maldini: "I have a beautiful life which is not made of just football. I will always be a Milan fan."

Let's face it, Maldini can't solve anything. The club needs money first and foremost to be able to compete like the old days.