Gattuso’s time at the head of Milan might be coming to an end

Gennaro Gattuso might be out as manager of AC Milan if reports are to be believed, as it seems that Leonardo, Paolo Maldini, and Ivan Gazidis had a long meeting after the end of the loss to Torino. While it’s been widely reported that Gattuso has had the support of management this season, with the upper management allowing Gattuso to dig himself out of holes in the past, this time it might be different.

Reports say that the directors were locked in a meeting both with and without Gattuso after the loss to Torino that leaves Milan out in the cold in 6th place in the table, and are at risk of dropping out of the European places altogether with Atalanta still to play relegation threatened Udinese.

Gattuso was brought in last season after Vincent Montella proved to be ineffective as manager, and the club went on a tear that ended up earning Gattuso an extension. However, this season has been inconsistent, at best, with an ugly loss against Lazio in the Coppa Italia semifinal just the latest example of Milan imploding when expectations and pressure had increased at the club.

The timing of this move has to be questioned, as there is almost no time left in the season, but it does speak to the desperation of Milan to make the Champions League. The whole Elliott Management project involves increasing income, and the club can’t do that outside of the Champions League. With UEFA Financial Fair Play penalties looming if Milan can’t reducing spending and increase income, a horror scenario of a fire sale could become reality without the extra income from European competition.

Gattuso was a Milan legend as a player, but perhaps not as a manager, and that’s okay. Managing Milan is one of the hardest jobs in world football, much less Italy, and for Gatttuso to have latest as long as he has speaks to his passion for the Rossoneri.

There will be a long list of managers linked to Milan, but don’t expect a permanent manager to take over with only four games left. Milan have all summer to figure out what they want to do, they just need to make sure that they’re at least in the Europa League before transfer plans start being made.