02 December 2023 , 11:33
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Paulo Maldini has hinted that he's ready to become Manchester United's sporting director under Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The AC Milan legend is among those who've been tipped for the Old Trafford role once Ratcliffe takes charge of the club's football operations through a £1.3billion deal to buy a 25 per cent stake from the Glazer family. Mirror Football understands that the INEOS founder and chief executive wants to be in control by Christmas, and appointing a new sporting director is one of his top priorities.
While Crystal Palace chief Dougie Freedman and former Tottenham bigwig Paul Mitchell have most commonly been linked with the position, Milan icon Maldini is also said to be in contention. The three-time Champions League winner was sacked by Milan in June alongside colleague Ricky Massara due to tension with the Rossoneri's owner, Gerry Cardinale.
Maldini recently spoke to Di Marzio about his future, hinting that he'd be open to joining Ratcliffe's revolution "The alternatives to Milan are very limited," the 55-year-old admitted when asked about what lies ahead after leaving San Siro.
"I could never go to another Italian team, if necessary I would only evaluate the offer of a high-level foreign team. I like winning and building. Saudi Arabia could be a challenging option, who knows."
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Despite a resurgent Milan winning their first Serie A title in 11 years during his and Massara's time in charge of transfers and player development, Maldini has suggested that Milan owner Cardinale was never keen on working with the pair. "I believe that the decision to fire me and Massara had been taken many months before," he added.
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Former AC Milan chiefs Paulo Maldini and Ricky Massara have been linked with moves to Old Trafford (Simone Arveda/Getty Images)"On the other hand, my contract, for two years with an option to renew, was only renewed on June, 30, 2022 at 10pm. I believe that at the time it would have been too unpopular to send us away, because we had just won the Scudetto."
Milan sit third in Serie A after enduring a difficult summer transfer window, painting Maldini and Massara's reign in an even more positive light. Ratcliffe will hope that whoever he appoints will emulate that kind of success, as United have now gone more than 10 years without a Premier League title win and Erik ten Hag's are currently sixth in the table, having lost five of their opening 13 matches.