THE SILENCE BROKEN
Exclusive interview with Repubblica: “Cardinal asked me for the Champions League, but he wanted to send me away”
30 nov 2023
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Paolo Maldini freewheeling, without brakes. Six months after his dismissal from Milan, speaks again with Enrico Currò in an interview published exclusively by Repubblica. The former Rossoneri flag has something for everyone. From Cardinale (“He wanted me to win the Champions League, but he had already decided to send me away”) to Scaroni (“In the front row for the scudetto, but I often saw him leave the stadium early when things weren’t going well”). With a clear message for the current management: “Today you are in charge, but please respect Milan’s history.”
Maldini confesses that the six months of silence are justified because “time allows for serenity”, his love for Milan remains unconditional, but people like him “should be kept close”.
Instead, the divorce arrived last June 5th:
“Cardinale told me that Massara and I were fired, justifying it with the bad relations with Furlani and adding a joke about the Champions League semi-final lost to Inter. With him in a year only one chat and four messages. I was asked to prepare a plan to win the Champions League. I did it with Massara and a consultant friend, I sent it but I was never given a response.”
The former Rossoneri manager returns to the completed and unfinished business:
“Many meetings were needed for Ibrahimovic, De Ketelaere challenged me but for such a young boy the failure rate is high. They didn’t like Leao, Bennacer and Theo.
Messi? He was free after Barcelona, but it remained an idea because Leonardo told me that PSG was ahead.”
There is no shortage of bitterness: “Furlani told me a low budget for this season, but after my departure it doubled.”
And Pioli? “He should be thanked, but giving him tasks that are outside his own will make him more and more alone.”
Finally a joke about
“You don’t need them to take Loftus-Cheek, Pulisic and Chukwueze” algorithms and on the new stadium: “I was fighting for a bigger facility, it was a cause for conflict.”
2023-11-30 23:36:39
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