International Champions Cup chief and Milan fan Charlie Stillitano believes Elliott Management has been a ‘blessing’ for the club.
There were fears Elliott would treat Milan as an asset after Li Yonghong defaulted on his loan to buy the club, but the American hedge fund has since brought stability to the Rossoneri and splashed out on the likes of Lucas Paqueta and Krzysztof Piatek.
International Champions Cup chief and Milan fan Charlie Stillitano believes Elliott Management has been a ‘blessing’ for the club.
There were fears Elliott would treat Milan as an asset after Li Yonghong defaulted on his loan to buy the club, but the American hedge fund has since brought stability to the Rossoneri and splashed out on the likes of Lucas Paqueta and Krzysztof Piatek.
“It’s a blessing that Elliott Management Group took over,” Stillitano, who was linked with a takeover of the Diavolo last year, told Milan Weekly Podcast.
“I really thought the club needed to bring someone very professional like Ivan Gazidis.
“I was very pleased, I’ve known Ivan since the mid 1990s, I have always been impressed by his honesty and professionalism and ability to get things done. He’s a soft spoken gentleman but very effective.
“I have met the folks at Elliott, and they seem like they really are football people at the top and I think they really understand what it takes to build the club back to where it was.“I was thrilled when Paolo went back to the club, and was also thrilled when Leonardo did as well.
“It is really a blessing because when the Chinese ownership came in I really didn’t know the people and didn’t really know what they were doing.
“I knew Marco Fassone well, but to be fair it was a club that was, to put it politely, a little bit in disarray.
“I couldn’t think of bringing back three better people to the club, number one with Maldini and number two with Leonardo [and Scaroni third] to help bring Milan back to where it was.
“I had bumped into Daniele Massaro last week and other people, and you feel like the old energy and pride is back.
“With Paolo I have had many good times over the years, and so many moments of friendship, but also with the others.
“There is a great dignity that Milan has and a class. Milan is the model for so many teams in the world. To me Milan is all about class and dignity.”