AC Milan sporting director Leonardo Araujo has revealed why he joined city rivals of Inter as head coach in the summer of 2010.
Leonardo Araujo made his fourth comeback at AC Milan this summer. The former Brazil star and current sporting director of the Rossoneri first joined AC Milan in the summer of 2017 for €8.5 million from PSG. He stayed until 2001 before going back to his homeland to play for Sao Paulo and Flamengo. That didn’t last long and after only one year the former attacking midfielder returned to San Siro to end his career with the Red and Black jersey.
After his retirement the Brazilian worked as football analyst for BBC and later as scout of Milan in Brazil. Leonardo was instrumental in the purchase of Seleçao superstars Ricardo Kaka, Alexandre Pato and Thiago Silva. In 2009 former Rossoneri president Silvio Berlusconi appointed him as the new head coach of AC Milan.
That year the team finished 3rd in the league but gained praise for the beautiful football it expressed on the pitch thanks to the unusual 4–2–1–3 tactic by Leo, nicknamed also “4–2–fantasy” by Galliani. The highlight of the season was a spectacular 3-2 win at Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid and a 3-0 away win with Juventus. At the end of the season Leo left Milan by mutual agreement citing his “difficult” relationship with Berlusconi as the main reason.
A few weeks later Leonardo Araujo was named the new coach of arch-rivals Inter. It was a shocking move considering the Brazilian’s long career with Milan. He won the Coppa Italia trophy at the helm of Inter but suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat with his former team Milan. At the end of the season Leonardo resigned and started his director career with PSG.
In a recent interview Leo revealed for the first time why he took up the controversial decision in 2010 to join Inter. “I went to Inter for several reasons, but the main trigger was president Moratti. I had a good relationship with the several Brazilian Inter players when I played and tried to stay close to Ronaldo and help him. Our relationship was born there. With this daughter Carlotta (Moratti) we shared thousand projects and I met Moratti thousands of times. This is now the fourth time I have returned to Milan. And its all based on emotions“.
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