Former director Massimiliano Mirabelli has revealed his regret at not bringing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to AC Milan when he had the chance.
Mirabelli arrived at the Rossoneri under Yonghong Li’s ownership back in 2017, and oversaw a transfer campaign which saw Milan bring in a number of high-profile players for over €100million.
Both he CEO Marco Fassone were given their marching orders a year later in summer 2018 when Yonghong Li defaulted on the repayment of loans and Elliott Management seized control of the club after an unsuccessful season.
Mirabelli has previously been outspoken about key things which happened during his time at Milan – such as having an agreement in place to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and the huge fine he gave to Leonardo Bonucci.
Now, he has reflected on his time at San Siro once again in an interview with TMW Radio. He was asked whether, given the same funds again, he would have made different purchases in 2017.
“The foundations could have been laid to do something good. More could have been done, yes. My biggest regret is not having brought my pupil Aubameyang,” he said.
Aubameyang ended up moving from Dortmund to Arsenal in 2018 for a fee believed to be €65m (via Wikipedia).
“We were close to signing many interesting players. We were the first team to have the chance to buy Cristiano Ronaldo. But in one market session it is difficult to reach important results. Marotta’s first Juve came seventh. Liverpool arrived first eleventh and then eighth. It takes time to develop a project.”
On the current state of the club: “Reaching the Champions League is very difficult. Beyond the gap of points, there are teams that looked at risk and instead they are doing well, like Atalanta now.
“Milan are very close to the Europa League places and has the Italian Cup. They can end the year positively and continue their growth path, maybe aiming for the Champions League next year.”