Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
Speaker: Talking of takeovers, Elliott Management Corporation, there was a report over the weekend that the US hedge fund had provided its availability to finance the takeover of Managed United. And according to widespread reports really, that Elliott have informed RAIN, who are the investment bank that are handling the process of the Man United takeover, that
Speaker: that they are available to provide financing and if man United are not sold we know that for up for sale that have also offered to provide financing to the current owners the glazers family so they basically offered the
Speaker: their services to be involved in financing Manchester United going forward. This has prompted quite an unhappy reaction from many United fans. I think generally there's always a general concern whenever any hedge funds get involved over, well, what are their ambitions for the club? Is it just as what most hedge funds is, which is to buy in order to sell on for a profit?
Speaker: is it asset strip and these are the concerns that were there among Milan fans when Elliot took ownership of Milan in 2018 and just to rewind this happened when Milan's previous Chinese owner Lee Yong Hong
Speaker: failed to repay his, it was a loan of 300 million euros that he owed to the hedge fund, he failed to repay, he defaulted and Elliot took over and there was a lot of concerns at the time. Milan were in complete shambles on and off the pitch, they were hundreds of millions in debt
Speaker: They'd just gone, I think, a sixth season without even getting into the top four, without getting into the Champions League. They hadn't won the Scudetto since 2011. And there were fears that Milan would be driven into the ground, really. And to be honest, this was kind of, you could understand these feedings, because if you ever look at the history of the involvement of Elliot, with, I mean, just Google Elliot,
Speaker: Argentina, just Google that and see the history in that country, and all the problems that happened there, to say it's too long and complicated to explain it here, but you will see. So there was a lot of fears, basically. But you know what, as we look back now, five years on and Elliot sold the club
Speaker: in September 2022 to Redbird Capital for 1 .2 billion. If we look at the time, the four years or so that Elliot were in charge of Milan, we have to say they did an absolutely fantastic job of rebuilding and resurrecting Milan as a
Speaker: maybe not a European powerhouse because that's not really possible for Italian teams, but certainly it's a powerhouse of Italian football, they weren't when they inherited them. And you know, there's a lot of successes which I'll quickly go through. They reduced Milan's debts massively. They still have debts, but they've reduced them hugely.
Speaker: they they did this really by by a couple of things first of all they they installed a salary ceiling and they were paying over paying players not particularly good players huge huge huge salaries um which was a legacy thing going back to the time of bella scone when bella scone took over of paying such huge huge salaries to players
Speaker: Their transfer policy was based around scouting, buying, and developing young players rather than established players. They went out and looked and scouted for teenagers and young players. They brought back Paolo Maldini, who had been in exile for years since he retired as a player.
Speaker: Stefano Pioli was installed as football and there was a kind of a clear identity really from top to bottom. They modernized the club on and off the pitch. Pioli played this modern football kind of attacking, high intense, high press football and the transfer policy was magnificent. If you look at the players that they signed,
Speaker: as pretty much nobodies or as youngsters and the way they developed into stars. I mean, Rafael Liao, Theo Hernandez, the two big ones, but you know, you've got Tomori, you've got Kalulu, you've got Tonali, you've got Ben -Aser, and then you look at some of the other youngsters that developed there, they weren't necessarily signed like, you know, like Don Aruma, for example. I mean, everything was about building a kind of a sustainable project and, you know,
Speaker: look at the results they got back in the Champions League and then they won overachieved I would say and winning their first cadet in 11 years last year under Pioli and when they left in the last September they left them in a in a in a in a much much much infinitely uh healthier state both financially and and sportily so I think you know wouldn't you agree Nima that they did a did a very good job
Speaker: They did an absolutely fantastic job. And I think it started with who they appointed. They appointed Paolo Scarone, who is one of the most impressive Italian business people around. I mean, he's the guy, he was a CEO of Fortune 500 companies, Enel, these companies are not small companies. And he's the chairman since 2018.
Speaker: They appointed Gazidis to put in a structure. We did a fantastic job until he left. Paolo Maldini as the sporting CEO, quote -unquote. In my opinion, probably the best sporting director in all of Italy, Ricky Massara, who is brilliant at finding young, talented players.
Speaker: and a coherent project and matching a coach to that. That's what they did right. And everyone knew what they had to do in terms of the financial ceiling and the debt reduction. And look at the results. Since then, they've returned to the Champions League. They're now in the round of last 16 for the first time in a decade. At the second attempt back in the Champions League, they won the Serie A.
Speaker: You can't say anything, you know, you can't say that they did not do a good job there. No, I did. The scouting department as well, fantastic. Monsada, Jeffrey Monsada, that they got from Monaco. He was at Monaco during the years when they were developing. Remember all those great youngsters when Mbappe and Fabigno and all these kind of
Speaker: you know, all those great players, you know, they got him and he's come in and I think there's no, you know, it's no coincidence that when he came, the amount of great youngsters they were scouting, often from the French market, a lot of players from the French market, Manon, we should really include, even though he wasn't super young for a goalkeeper, he was and look what's happened to him. He's genuinely, I think, top five in the world now in this position. So,
Speaker: You know, I think um, they yeah, they they did a great job and there was there was a lot of doubts We all had doubts know anybody that says they didn't have concern lying a lion Everybody did everybody and i'm not going to lie included myself. I was very very worried Um, because we know what hedge funds generally we know what their modus operandi is, isn't it? It's to increase the value and sell but they did it in a way that benefited Everyone included themselves. So in that sense they did a great job whether or not
Speaker: Man United are in the same situation that Milan were, that it would benefit them taking over. I don't know. I don't know because it feels like, you know, Man United are in the Premier League with all the riches of the Premier League. And it's also Man United.
Speaker: Yeah. It's a different ball game in that, you know, you wouldn't go to Man United. They couldn't possibly go to Man United and run the club in the same way that they run Milan. Cost -cutting and with low salaries, they just couldn't. They couldn't run it. They could do a version of it, which kind of Eric Tenhag is kind of already doing, isn't he? Like he's kicking out like the way he handled the Cristiano Ronaldo situation, the way that he's built, again, this kind of credibility in the dressing room around players that you either deliver or you don't.
Speaker: And I think it depends on who takes over. I think I understand it more. I mean, I still think that the Qataris will take over and my money is on them. I could be wrong.
Speaker: Yeah, but we'll see. But I mean, we'll see. But I do think that if Elia take over, they'll do a hybrid. And that's kind of what Sir Alex Ferguson did, didn't he? I mean, he didn't, he was very responsible. He had amazing success, but he was responsible. He didn't just hand out golden contracts left, right and center.
Speaker: And I think that's what Elliot will do at Manchester United as well. I mean, they're not going to run the club. So that needs to be made clear. They're not bidding for the club, to take ownership of the club. They're bidding to help with the financing. So it's different in that way as well. But I just wanted to talk about this, just to dispel the myth that I've seen all over among many United fans, and that it's kind of been spread that
Speaker: somehow Elliot were a complete failure and destroyed Milan. I have seen this widespread. I've seen this widespread. A man, a united influencer, said it, who I had to quote to Eden and make fun of. Was Goldbridge one of them?
Speaker: It was Goldbridge tweet, I quote tweeted. Oh, right. Did he say he did he say that Elliott, he said, I can read it for you because I mean, I'm just guessing because he's usually the first one to he said that Elliott group from USA did a terrible job where they see Milan, they sold them not a good candidate, in my opinion.
Speaker: and I quote tweeted that and said, you're right. Elliot forced Milan to return to the Champions League and punish them further by winning their 19th Serie A title. And if that wasn't bad enough, they appointed Paolo Maldini as a director who rejuvenated the squad with lots of talented young players. Hashtag pray for Milan. I mean, he's an idiot. The man's an idiot. He literally is one of the dumbest people in the United Kingdom and that and there is competition for that title. So well done.
