Milan, who will make the transfer market? Maldini and Massara will not be replaced. Furlani, Moncada-Corriere.it

It is said that to win you have to spend a lot of money, but why? I say you have to be smarter than the others and not waste your money. I believe in the Moneyball method. Like it or not, this is Gerry Cardinale’s precise vision. Little Italian, very American. It has been clear since the day of his inauguration at the helm of Milan, now a year ago, the number one of RedBird: a winning management model must necessarily involve every area, from marketing to communication, up to the sports sector. Two keywords: sustainability of accounts and collegiality of decisions. A vision, indeed one visionperfectly made in the USA.

At the base of everything are the bigdatai.e. statistics, the study of numbers, but in the most modern and advanced version. In the United States they have long been convinced of this: numbers can tell if an athlete is strong and above all if he is suitable (or not) for a team. Even in Italy, the clubs are now all equipped with data analysts, data scientists, performance analysts, figures who study data to make correct decisions in the medical field, in athletic training, in marketing and now increasingly also in the transfer market.

A method that has marked a turning point in baseball for some time, precisely as the film tells Moneyballs with Brad Pitt in 2011, but that also in football is starting to be more and more widespread. And that Milan could integrate into its already effective scouting system directed by Geoffrey Moncada. Maldini and Massara would not be replaced: there would be a Cardinal more present, the market would go to the CEO Giorgio Furlani.

Cardinal convinced of it: the right path also for his Milan. The first to know that this is an unprecedented model in our country is the Cardinal himself, who however is deeply convinced of how his managerial organization can be a driving force for the entire Italian football system. The Philadelphia man’s business plan is clear: to transform the club into a media company. For him, sports clubs are companies of culture: they have to deal with TV rights, ticket sales, create social content, follow all those sport-fashion-music-entertainment connections that are natural for young people. Obviously, they must also have their own stadium.

Returning to the transfer market, urgency number one given the need to strengthen the squad after too many ups and downs this season, what matters is not wasting time. Because there’s less than you might think, given that the next championship will start in just over two months.

Reserve goalkeeper Sportiello and midfielder Kamada are on the way. Anyway. Free, both. But there are several open dossiers on the table: the redemption of Brahim Diaz from Real Madrid, the renewal of goalkeeper Maignan now courted by half of Europe, the Premier League in the lead, the purchase of a forward-looking center forward to work alongside Giroud. The new Milan, the one that will take the field with the ball, must be built now.