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Gerry Cardinale has visited Milanello twice in quick succession (at least by his usual timescale), and more frequent trips could follow.
La Gazzetta dello Sport‘s report begins by outlining the ‘three corporate cornerstones’ around which RedBird Capital want to run Milan: continuity, stability, centrality. Cardinale’s two visits to Milanello in just a few weeks are a step in this direction, speeches and handshakes aside.
Why now?
The paper adds that these blitzes were not an experiment to see what the outcome would be or to create a surprise, but rather carefully planned and scheduled meetings. With the entire management team in place and the team aware.
This is precisely because the message Cardinale and the ownership intend to convey is clear: they are here, we are here, we will continue to be here. The first visit of 2026 was on January 21st, followed by another on February 15th, so only 25 days passed between the two.
This is remarkable because, prior to this double visit, Cardinale’s last public and official appearance as the owner dated back to the legendary night of Real Madrid 1-3 Milan in November 2024. In the months that followed, there were rumours of his presence in the city, which the club never confirmed.
The goal, in short, is to transform Cardinale’s presence from an extraordinary (in the sense of uncommon) event to an ordinary one. From what we’re hearing, visits are set to increase in number as the RedBird founder intends to make the club more lively as well.
Those key words
Here we return to the three key words. Continuity: the ‘exit’ of Elliott Management with the parallel refinancing of the debt with Comvest is considered by the owners to be a strong enough message to tell the world that RedBird intends to stay in control.
Stability: the focus is primarily on financial stability, meaning self-sustainability without resorting to cash injections from the majority shareholder. This is something RedBird has never done until now, except for development and investment purposes, like the San Donato project.
Centrality: this is a theme particularly dear to Cardinale, whom fans have criticised at certain points during his tenure for not caring enough about the club. Hence the decision to be more visible, consistent with the importance Milan holds in his corporate portfolio.
The two visits in recent weeks is intended to reaffirm the ownership’s direct commitment to the club, through ongoing dialogue with the management and operational departments. The sporting project is at the centre of everything, as the Lega meeting appearance showed. Next? A return to San Siro.
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