AC MILAN 2026/27: A NEW BEGINNING AFTER A SUMMER OF REVOLUTION

By Giuseppe Forlano

There are summers in which a football club changes players. Then there are summers in which it changes direction. For AC Milan, the summer of 2026 unquestionably belonged to the second category.

The 2025/26 campaign had not been disastrous from beginning to end. Milan spent much of the season competing around the Champions League positions and arrived at the final weekend with qualification still possible. That made the conclusion even more painful. On 24 May, the Rossoneri welcomed Cagliari to San Siro knowing that victory could still secure a top-four finish. Alexis Saelemaekers scored after only two minutes, but Milan allowed the visitors back into the game and eventually lost 2-1. The Rossoneri finished fifth on 70 points, just one behind fourth-placed Como, and were relegated to the Europa League.

It was the kind of defeat that forces a club to confront more than the result itself.

RedBird reacted immediately. Less than 24 hours later, the ownership announced a comprehensive reorganisation of Milan's football operations. CEO Giorgio Furlani, Sporting Director Igli Tare, Technical Director Geoffrey Moncada and Head Coach Massimiliano Allegri all departed. Four central figures of the previous structure disappeared almost simultaneously.

Rather than another adjustment, Milan had chosen a reset.

Gerry Cardinale's role in that reset has been particularly significant. The RedBird founder has appeared considerably closer to the sporting project, publicly presenting the club's new direction and becoming more visible around Milanello. His presence at the opening of pre-season carried symbolic weight, but the decisions made behind the scenes were far more important. After years in which questions had repeatedly been raised around Milan's hierarchy and distribution of responsibilities, RedBird attempted to shorten the distance between ownership and football operations.

Massimo Calvelli was appointed CEO, while Hendrik Almstadt and Bobby Gardiner became important figures within a redesigned sporting structure focused on recruitment, player trading and data-led decision-making. The most important appointment, however, arrived on the bench.

Rúben Amorim was chosen to give the reconstruction a footballing identity.

The Portuguese coach arrived with a clearly recognisable philosophy and, unlike previous Milan summers in which recruitment and tactical needs did not always appear perfectly aligned, the 2026 mercato was built around specific functions within his 3-4-2-1. Three centre-backs initiate possession, wing-backs provide width and verticality, two midfielders protect and connect the structure, while two attacking players operate behind a central striker.

Milan consequently spent heavily, but with a much clearer idea of what those investments were supposed to provide.

The headline acquisition was Gonçalo Ramos. The Portuguese striker arrived permanently from Paris Saint-Germain for a reported package of approximately €74 million plus bonuses. It was a major financial commitment, but also a stylistically coherent one. Ramos offers penalty-box presence, aggressive pressing and movement capable of opening spaces for the two attacking players behind him. In Amorim's system, the striker is not simply expected to finish attacks; he is part of the mechanism that creates them.

Mario Gila followed from Lazio for around €25 million plus bonuses. His Serie A experience, mobility and ability to defend and build possession within a three-man back line made him a logical addition. Diego Moreira represented another substantial investment. Milan reportedly committed around €50 million plus bonuses for the Belgian international from Strasbourg, betting heavily on a player whose athleticism, ball carrying and versatility appear particularly suited to the enormous demands Amorim places on his wide players.

The club also invested in the future through young centre-back Sankhoun Diawara, while Omari Hutchinson arrived from Nottingham Forest on loan with an option to buy, providing another technically gifted player capable of operating between the lines.

Yet the scale of the reconstruction can only be understood by considering those who left.

Rafael Leão's departure was the most symbolic. After seven seasons, 291 appearances and 80 goals, the Portuguese winger joined Galatasaray permanently for a disclosed fixed fee of €38 million, with Milan retaining a percentage of the profit from a future sale. Leão had been the attacking reference point of an entire Milan cycle. For years, when structure failed, his individual superiority could still decide games.

His exit therefore represented much more than a transfer.

Christopher Nkunku returned to RB Leipzig on loan, Santiago Gimenez moved to Porto, Youssouf Fofana joined Sevilla and Samuele Ricci departed for Como. Players recruited or heavily used within previous sporting plans were moved on as Milan redistributed resources towards profiles considered more compatible with Amorim's football.

The early Serie A results suggest that the transition has produced encouraging signs.

Milan opened their campaign with a 2-1 victory away to Torino, with youngster Alphadjo Cissé scoring on his league debut before Adrien Rabiot added the second. A 2-0 home victory over Venezia followed, with Ramos opening his Serie A account at San Siro.

The first major examination came against Juventus in Turin. Milan again took the lead through Cissé, whose fearless introduction into the first team has become one of the early stories of Amorim's tenure, but Federico Gatti's stoppage-time equaliser denied the Rossoneri a significant away victory. The 1-1 draw nevertheless demonstrated that Milan's new structure could remain competitive against stronger opposition.

Another difficult away fixture followed at the Olimpico. Lazio held Milan to a 2-2 draw, but Diego Moreira produced his first major statement in Rossonero with a brace. Considering the size of Milan's investment in the Belgian, his immediate influence was particularly significant.

Then came arguably the most convincing domestic performance of the season so far. Milan defeated Lecce 3-0 at San Siro through goals from Christian Pulisic, Rabiot and Moreira. Five Serie A matches had therefore produced three victories, two draws, 11 points, ten goals scored and only four conceded.

For a team reconstructed during one summer, the numbers represented a promising beginning.

Europe, however, provided an important reminder of how unfinished this Milan remains.

The return to the Europa League began in the worst possible way: a 2-0 defeat against Benfica at San Siro. After the positivity generated by the domestic start, Milan were unable to impose themselves against an experienced European opponent and suffered their first major setback of the Amorim era.

The defeat should not erase what Milan have shown in Serie A, but neither should it be dismissed as an isolated bad night. European competition exposes structural weaknesses differently. The quality of opposition increases, mistakes are punished more efficiently and tactical systems that work domestically are subjected to different problems. Against Benfica, the distance between having a recognisable idea and being capable of executing it consistently at European level became visible.

That contrast perhaps provides the most accurate picture of Milan in September 2026.

Four months ago, the Rossoneri left San Siro after losing to Cagliari, missing Champions League qualification by a single point and reaching the end of a project that ownership itself decided required radical change. Today, Milan has a different CEO, a redesigned sporting structure, a new coach, a different tactical identity and several expensive new cornerstone players.

Cardinale has moved closer to the project. Amorim has been entrusted with defining its football. The transfer market has supplied him with players selected specifically for that vision. And the opening five Serie A matches have offered genuine reasons for optimism.

But the defeat to Benfica is equally part of the story.

Milan has changed almost everything in four months. The early signs suggest they may finally know exactly what they want to become. The next challenge is considerably harder: proving that a new structure, a new coach and an ambitious summer of investment can transform a promising idea into a winning team.