A tall, thin man is leading the race. He is 57 years old, with hair that falls to his forehead and the build of someone who, in another life, was a goalkeeper. Julen Lopetegui is the first candidate to be AC Milan’s coach for 2024-25. What’s more, at this moment he is the chosen one, the great favorite to win a race in which many coaches have signed up in the last week, since it became clear that elimination from the Europa League would cost Stefano Pioli his bench . Lopetegui has not yet signed a contract on a piece of paper with the Rossoneri logo but he has everything to do so: he is highly regarded by the management, Gerry Cardinale liked him in the interview held in recent weeks and has a more prestigious CV than the other candidates.
how you choose
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The process for choosing the new coach at Milan is more complex than elsewhere. Cardinale will be the man who takes responsibility but the opinions of Giorgio Furlani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Geoffrey Moncada are fundamental. A triumvirate supported by special consultants, not least Zelus, the data analysis company in which RedBird has invested heavily. The decision is collegial but there are some principles established at the beginning of the process. Milan is looking for an international coach, good at working with young people, who does not impose his point of view but shares the transfer choices. A bit like what happened last summer with Pioli: the summer arrivals, especially Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tijjani Reijnders and Christian Pulisic, were explicitly wanted by the coach.
the contacts
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Lopetegui has been liked for some time and the contacts with his agents, which have also been frequent in recent days, date back a long time. Geoffrey Moncada was one of the most determined, if not the most decisive, to pursue his candidacy in the first phase. The last few days have marked a change of pace, because Milan came to the decision not to continue with Pioli, who by winning the Europa League would have mortgaged his confirmation. The season with second place in the league (more than in line with the club’s requests), two more lost derbies and the elimination from the three cups instead convinced Milan to consider the cycle that began in 2019 closed.
him and the others
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The club has thus identified its man in Lopetegui, with priority over Paulo Fonseca, Domenico Tedesco, Mark van Bommel, Christophe Galtier, Thiago Motta and other candidates. The final word has not yet been written but Lopetegui has given Milan his preference over West Ham’s – richer – offer and plans to coach in Milan soon. Compared to Fonseca, another strong candidate, and Van Bommel he achieved more results and frequented more high-level benches. Lopetegui won the 2019-20 Europa League – in the final against Inter -, led Spain for almost two years without losing a match (2016-2018) and was on the Real Madrid bench for three traumatic months from summer to autumn 2018.
next steps
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It’s logical that Milan would be redemption for him, a new chance at a high level after nine months at Wolverhampton, from November 2022 to the end of the season: a great comeback in the Premier League closed with a controversial farewell in August 2023. Questions of projects and investments in market. After a year’s break, Lopetegui is ready to get back into the game and Milan are studying a future with him. The Milan fans on social media don’t like it much – they would like Antonio Conte, or perhaps Thiago Motta – but Lopetegui can cross the finish line in May. He must overcome the unexpected events of these weeks, in which Pioli will be greeted with the gratitude due to the man and the coach. And in which other colleagues, with their agents and sponsors, will try to divert Milan’s thoughts. However, the choice is clear at the moment: Milan wants to focus on Julen the Basque, the son of the mayor of Asteasu, the former boy who grew up together with Martin Berasategui, who later became a 12-star Michelin chef. Lopetegui, for Milan, should only try to take the second.
