After 31 years of Silvio Berlusconi, AC Milan moved into the hands of Yonghong Li with the goal of returning to the elite of European football. On the mercato, 240 millions were spent on 11 new purchases, but so far the results are not the ones hoped for.
According to Forbes, the situation in Casa Milan is disturbing. The initial strategy, originally similar to what Chelsea, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain did before, is in serious risk of failure, because the resources of the new Chinese club owners are not unlimited and the context is different. Yonghong Li is trying to find new investors to help him repay the debt contracted with Elliott Management. The recent sanctions on foreign investments by the Chinese government have frozen many assets in possession of Yonghong Li.
The problem is that – according to the American magazine – AC Milan are dealing from a weak position, because next year the club from Via Aldo Rossi will register another season in red and the team risks failing to qualify for the upcoming Champions League. The most concrete scenario at the moment is that AC Milan would pass into Elliott’s hands if Mr Li doesn’t find new partners. A scenario called “nightmare”, considering the experience of Liverpool at the time of Tom Hicks and George Gillet, who lost control of the club. At the time the reds finished in the hands of RBS, the main creditor.
Now the danger is real, rather than getting the same results as Chelsea, Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain, the rossoneri risk living the same Liverpool nightmare. Hopefully, at the end, the search for new partners will prove successfully and the club will have the necessary financial resources to repay the 320 million $ of debt plus 10% of interest.
