The decade hasn’t been very kind to AC Milan. The Rossoneri, once counted among world football’s powerhouses, haven’t won Serie A since 2010/11. They are Europe’s second most successful club in the Champions League behind Real Madrid but stunningly enough, haven’t played in the tournament since the 2013/14 season. Restricted to featuring in the Europa League for the past few years, they even had to withdraw from that tournament in 2019/20 owing to FFP (Financial Fair Play) issues. Can Milan regain their glory of the past, or will the Rossoneri continue to slide further?
This year’s league positioning doesn’t make for good reading either. At the time of writing, Milan are 10th in Serie A, with 25 points from 19 games, and are actually closer to bottom of the table SPAL than they are to defending champions and league leaders Juventus. The Old Lady finished 7th when Milan last won the league, but have since gone to win Serie A eight times in a row, successfully putting behind the ghosts of the Calciopoli fixing scandal that saw them relegated to the second division 15 years ago.
In the latest Deloitte Money League rankings, Milan have fallen out of the top 20- the likes of Everton and West Ham are ranked higher than them, something that would’ve been inconceivable a decade ago. They were even beaten 5-0 by Atalanta last month- their heaviest defeat this century. If you’re a betting enthusiast, you would’ve noticed that the Rossoneri were nowhere near favourites to win the league or even qualify for the CL at the beginning of the season, and for right reason too. You may want to check out the betting at Casumo for the latest odds, but the Rossoneri need to string together a run of good results soon given we’re already half way into the season.
Champions League money is vital to a club’s financial success, and Milan’s absence from Europe’s top continental competition is hurting their bottomline. The Rossoneri are in 21st place with revenues of 206.3m euros, while Juve comfortably have more than double of their bitter rivals (10th in 459.7m euros). Table toppers Barcelona have meanwhile crossed more than 800 million euros in revenue. The aim of building and maintaining a quality side and qualifying for the Champions League whilst also meeting FFP norms seems to be a tough one, and it’s reflected in the manager churn at the club.
For the better part of the first decade this century, Milan had only one manager- Carlo Ancelotti, who took them to three Champions League finals during his 2001-09 stint. Since 2014 though, they’ve gone through nine managers in five years, with the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Filippo Inzaghi, Vincenzo Montella and Gennaro Gattuso, all trying, but eventually failing to stem the rot at the San Siro. Revenues have dropped significantly as well- from nearly 330 million euros of revenue in 2012, Milan are now at a little over 200 million.
The return of veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic has helped raised morale a bit, but the legendary Swedish striker is now 38, and it would be unfair to expect him to produce an encore of his previous seasons at the club. Ibra was the last Milan player to score more than 20 goals a season- back in 2012. He scored 35 in 2011/12, while Milan’s top scorer last season- Krzysztof Piatek, netted just 11- another example of how far standards have fallen at the club.
Those struggles, along with FFP regulations, have obviously extended to transfers. Milan boast of the fourth highest wage bill in Serie A, and to trim it, they’ve been forced to adopt cost-cutting measures- the sale of Fabio Borini, replacing Pepe Reina with Asmir Begovic and Mattia Caldara with Simon Kjaer in the winter window are all steps in that direction.
Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Perhaps clarity over new owners could help Milan engineer a turn-around, but for now, it continues to be a tough wait for their long-suffering fans.