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Cardinale commits long-term future to AC Milan
Milan owner Cardinale has firmly dismissed any speculation regarding a potential sale of the historic Serie A club. The American investor insists his vision for the Rossoneri is a long-term project designed to restore their European dominance.
RedBird Capital Partners officially launched a new holding company, Milan Sports & Entertainment, on Friday. This new venture brings together their various Milan-based investments, including the football club and an emerging NBA Europe project.
The primary objective of this structural change is to rapidly increase Milan's commercial revenue. Cardinale believes this new financial foundation will bridge the economic gap between Italian football and the wealthy Premier League.
Generating financial firepower for major transfers
The creation of Milan Sports & Entertainment is specifically targeted at boosting the club's power in the transfer market. Cardinale wants to ensure Rossoneri are never priced out of moves for elite global talent.
"The driving force behind transactions like this is to provide Milan with the financial firepower required to compete in the transfer market to secure the best players in the world," Cardinale told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I will never sell Milan. Ever."
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The RedBird chief executive also revealed his frustration at missing out on premium targets due to financial constraints. "I am doing everything possible to ensure that, when we want a footballer, nobody can tell me: 'You can't sign him because you can't afford him,'" he added.
Chasing the legacy of Silvio Berlusconi
Cardinale's ultimate ambition is to replicate the transformative impact that former owner Silvio Berlusconi had on both Milan and Italian football. He wants to drag Serie A into a modern, highly commercialised era.
"When I bought the club four years ago, I used the expression 'Berlusconi 2.0' and nobody understood what I meant," Cardinale explained. "What I was trying to explain was that, just as Berlusconi transformed Milan and, at the same time, Serie A, we want, through our ownership, to take the club into the new era we are living in."
Transforming the club with a new stadium
The foundation of this ambitious commercial growth will be the construction of a new, state-of-the-art stadium. Milan are working extensively on a project in the San Donato area to dramatically transform their financial profile.
"This is the legacy we will leave to Milan," Cardinale stated. "The stadium, obviously, represents a massive legacy that will transform our financial profile, but then there is also the project for the San Donato area and everything else."