Milan, Interrupted

It has been almost a month since Milan restlessly gave up three points to a relegation zone team behind closed doors. And it was the day before that when Gazidis, amidst all of this mess, fired Boban (of which the result may have some correlation.) That left Maldini’s position in question, too. Then he and his son Daniel tested positive and had symptoms of COVID-19. That brought us back to the harsh reality of why football stuttered and then just stopped in the first place: as of this writing, over 13,000 people in Italy have died, most of them from the region that Milan is located in.

Telling the truth is a part of Milan's DNA

For those of us left behind, and trying to stay safely inside, the lack of football has nearly driven us crazy. Not only the lack of football, but the lack of answers. For example, why was Gazidis sitting all alone during the Genoa game? Some news agencies guessed that Maldini was already experiencing symptoms at that point, but he indicated that his symptoms started much later. And even if he was symptomatic, then where was Massara?

CEO? of Dictator?

The news outlets have run the full course with the Rangnick rumors, and are now reporting that he will not be coming to Milan after all. Which means that Boban was fired in vain… or was he? That whole episode shed a light on the true intentions of Elliott and Gazidis. (Hint: good football is not part of their plans.) Which means that Maldini’s job is still very much in question, since we know he is not in the business of working for charlatans.

Bringing a new definition to "will he stay?"

If Maldini leaves, that puts a lot of players’ futures in question, too. Most notably, Ibrahimovic signed a six month contract in January, with the option to extend if certain criteria were met. However, with the season being completely interrupted, those criteria may or may not even have an opportunity to be met. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported yesterday that Ibrahimovic had decided to leave, followed by Ibrahimovic releasing a statement that nothing was decided yet. That made the media’s claims look more like a very pathetic April Fool’s joke. The reality of him leaving or retiring may or may not be affected by the unrest at the club, but he was reportedly very upset when Boban was sacked.

One selfish agent, two treasures, and one corrupt ownership & CEO

If Maldini leaves and Ibrahimovic leaves then… basically, the variables of other players leaving are exponential. The weekly obsession that the media has in reporting potential destinations for Gigio Donnarumma might actually be applicable now. Fellow Raiola client, Bonaventura, has been strongly linked with a move away. So many players have given up their careers staying at Milan with the continued empty promise of Europe, another reset could see them leave en masse. More could easily follow beyond those, depending on who is the Sporting Director, who is the manager, and how much money Raiola thinks he can make off of Milan this transfer window before FIFA cracks down on the seedy underbelly of football agent commissions.

Pandemic? Management Revolution? He will capitalize on anything.

Summer breaks from football are hard enough. But this is worse. For one, people are dying, including plenty of Milan fans. Secondly, no one knows how or when this ends, it is completely unsettling. Of course, we also don’t know how Milan’s season ends, or if it even does. And when the ventilators are no longer overwhelmed and the survivors can leave their homes again, what will become of Milan’s management? Will there be yet another revolution, setting the clock back to negative year zero again? What will be the consequences of Boban being fired? Will Maldini stay? Will he be allowed to stay? Will there even be any Milan left at Milanthe next time Serie A kicks off? By the time this pandemic ends, will anyone even worry about sport anymore? There are too many questions to even ask. As if the health, safety, and humanity hanging in the balance were not difficult enough to fathom, the very sanity of Milan fans is also at stake. It’s Milan, interrupted.

This post inspired by the music of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy”