January 31, 2016. Thanks to a very good Gigio Donnarumma and goals from Alex, Carlos Bacca and M’Baye Niang, Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men have their rivals (3-0), then trained by Roberto Mancini. This is AC Milan’s last Serie A victory in the derby against neighbor Inter. Eight games without that feeling that the city is yours for at least a few months. Worse still, to find a trace of a victory “away” in this Derby della Madonnina, we have to go back to November 14, 2010 and a penalty from Zlatan Ibrahimovic (1-0). Suffice to say that the Rossoneri are in a hurry: to bring down their interior neighbor and complete the first four days with 12 points this Saturday, on the occasion of the poster for the fourth day of Serie A.
If the two clubs have started the season well with three wins in three games for AC Milan and two wins and a draw (against Lazio) for Inter, this derby opposes two clubs who have now taken two opposite directions. If during the Berlusconi-Moratti era, the two clubs could spend lavishly, the current period is a little more cautious. This does not prevent the two Milanese stables from having ambitions, for one very short-term, for the other in the a little more distant future.
AC Milan: the future in focus
When Elliott Management arrived at the head of Milan in July 2018, after the enigmatic Yonghong Li failed to pay, a former short-lived owner who could no longer repay loans to the American investment fund, the message quickly spread. been communicated: we must set up a project with young players, on a trading basis (which explains the long interest in Luis Campos), in order to increase revenue and be able to catch up with the first four places in Serie A. access to the Champions League and its wonderful recipes.
Two years later, part of the objectives were achieved, that of the project around young elements with high potential. But the most important thing is still missing after a fifth position in May 2019 and a sixth place at the end of the very special 2019/2020 season. The club did not qualify for the Champions League and the clock is ticking. This is the seventh consecutive season without playing the most beautiful of European competitions.
Beyond the case of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, extended this summer to 39 years with an XXL salary, AC Milan has bet on the youth since the arrival of the American fund: Rafael Leao, Ismaël Bennacer, Theo Hernandez, Leo Duarte, Brahim Diaz , Alexis Saelemaekers and Sandro Tonali notably landed in Milanello. The average age has largely fallen, the club parting ways with older, overpaid and far from indispensable players like Pepe Reina, Giacomo Bonaventura, Lucas Biglia, Riccardo Montolivo, Fabio Borini, Diego Laxalt, Ivan Strinic, Andrea Bertolacci. With these departures, the club saved nearly 30 million euros on its payroll. The payroll has also increased from 140 million euros at the start of the 2018/2019 season to 90 million this season. A drop of 36% in two years in order to better stick to the reality of the moment of AC Milan.
In Milan, fourth place is imperative at the end of the season. The club canceled an intriguing revolution this summer by backtracking with Ralf Rangnick, contacted to put everything back in the club. With the good post-containment results (nine wins, three draws, zero defeats), the Milan leaders have decided to confirm Stefano Pioli, a coach with no European experience, not making waves, appreciated by his players and already gone through realities complexes (Lazio, Inter). A fairly conservative choice which has its share of risk.
Inter: win very quickly
With the neighbor and internal rival, the strategy is very different. By choosing Antonio Conte in June 2019, the club decided to make an “all-in” over the following two seasons. The ambitious Italian technician wanted a project that lived up to his desires and he got it. The Chinese owner, Suning, has injected tens and tens of millions of euros to mold a squad according to the wishes of his trainer. And when a small couple crisis happened last July, the shareholder made concessions to win back his leader. It must be said that with a second place in Serie A at the end of his first season and a Europa League final, Antonio Conte had some arguments for him.
Highest paid coach in Italy (12 million net per year), far ahead of all the others (Paulo Fonseca and his 2.5 million per year), the Inter coach does not like to project himself too far and prefers to think about the present. This Inter must win and very quickly. And to achieve these objectives, he considers that he needs players who are already ready, thus excluding young players in the making, even if the Nerazzurri squad has a few (Bastoni, Barella, Hakimi). This is how, since June 2018, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Aleksandar Kolarov, Arturo Vidal, Ashley Young, Diego Godin, Victor Moses, Matteo Darmian and Christian Eriksen have landed on an ad hoc or final basis. With these confirmed players, the club’s payroll rose from 116 million euros at the start of the 2018/2019 season (Spalletti’s last year) to 149 million euros in September 2020. An increase of 28% for the second biggest payroll in Italy.
This ambitious short-term strategy has a risk. If Inter, Juve’s number 1 rivals this season in the scudetto race, fail to win a major trophy this season, what will happen with this aging squad? Will Antonio Conte leave behind a scorched earth policy when he leaves?
The two Milanese clubs have adopted a very different sports policy but aim, each with their own objectives, to return to the top of Serie A. Before aiming for any national title or European return, it will already be necessary to ensure territorial supremacy in Lombardy from Saturday in an empty San Siro, but full of history.
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