Report: New Milan owners considering Antonio Conte as Manager

Elliott Management are reportedly considering making a change at Milan’s manager position, and are thinking of bringing Antonio Conte to the San Siro to replace Rino Gattuso.

After taking over the club when Yonghong Li defaulted on his loans to Elliott, the hedge fund are making changes to the board of directors. This includes a new President, which is likely to be Paolo Scaroni, according to reports. Marco Fassone could be on his way out as well, with Ivan Gazidis of Arsenal being considered for the CEO role, and Leonardo in the conversation for General Manager or Sporting Director.

Reports now say that Elliott are considering hiring Antonio Conte, who was just sacked by Chelsea after two years in charge of the club, as manager to replace Gattuso. Conte was manager of Juventus and the Italian National Team before taking the job at Stamford Bridge.

If this move was made, Conte would be Milan’s seventh manager since 2014, and would put Gattuso in the same group as Max Allegri, Clarence Seedorf, Pippo Inzaghi, Sinisa Mihajlovic, and Vincenzo Montella. It would also be the sacking of a manager who was given only half a season with a squad that he did not assemble himself, but still led the team to sixth place in Serie A, including an unbeaten run of 13 matches from the end of December to the middle of March.

Gattuso was also given an extension in April until 2021, which means that he would have to be paid regardless. After leading the team to Europe again and rescuing them from what would have been a nightmare season, as well as bringing together a squad that had not been clicking at all, Gattuso deserves another season. Conte is, without a doubt, a great manager. But sacking yet another manager, this late in the summer, and resetting the progress of Milan’s squad again might not be the the best choice from the new management. The better option might be to keep the manager that is familiar with the players, and vice-versa, to keep some stability in a club that has been in turmoil the past few weeks.

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