AC Milan are second in Serie A but 18 points behind arch rivals Inter Milan, who have long past secured the Scudetto. That means Milan are expected to part ways with manager Stefano Pioli, who had brought the title back to the San Siro in 2021/22.
Pioli has served Milan well and returned the club to relevancy in European football, even reaching the semifinals of the Champions League last season.
However, there’s a feeling in Milan that the club has reached its ceiling under Pioli and requires a new man to lead them in a different direction under RedBird’s rule.
Here are five of the best managers AC Milan could realistically hire in the summer 2024 window.
Roberto De Zerbi
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has past success to speak of in Serie A, as the Italian manager led one of the most exciting clubs in European football, Sassuolo.
De Zerbi brought that same excitement to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League and then qualified for the Europa League with Brighton in his first season with the Seagulls.
Although Brighton have struggled a bit this season due to injuries, nobody disputes the fact that De Zerbi is one of the finest tacticians in all the land.
Given what he has done with wingers Domenico Berardi, Manor Solomon, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Kauro Mitoma, Solly March, and others, it would be particularly exciting to see how he works with top-quality stars Rafael Leao, Christian Pulisic, and Samuel Chukwueze.
Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte is the most volatile potential hire for Milan in the summer window, but the former Inter Milan Scudetto winner in 2020/21 is also the best overall.
Wherever he has gone, besides Tottenham for obvious reasons, Conte has succeeded. He helped turn his former club, Juventus, back into a dynasty, won a league crown with Chelsea, and even made the mid-2010s Italian national team look respectable at the European Championships.
Napoli and a few other clubs are taking a long look at Conte, but Milan have the clout to entice him – and Conte has shown he isn’t against working with rivals.
The real issue with Conte and RedBird is the question of investment, because Conte’s big blow-ups have come because he felt the clubs he was previously with didn’t back him appropriately. And to be honest, in most of those cases, he was right.
Thiago Motta
Thiago Motta seems to almost certainly be headed to Juventus, but there’s always a chance for a flip before the paperwork becomes official.
As far as the league is concerned, Motta is still Bologna’s coach and poised to secure Champions League football. The innovative tactician has turned the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and Joshua Zirkzee into the most coveted young players in Italian football.
Perhaps Motta could bring the added bonus of a Calafiori signing to a Milan back line that desperately needs upgrades. At the very least, if Motta can turn Zirkzee into a star, imagine what he can do with Rafael Leao.
Graham Potter
Another manager who made a name for himself at Brighton, Graham Potter was the initial sensation before watching his stock come tumbling down in a mere few months while working with Todd Boehly’s sputtering Chelsea project.
Potter was sacrificed and forgotten by the masses, but he could resurface with a big club like Milan and prove his work at Brighton was no fluke. He would be an intriguing hire for RedBird.
Paulo Fonseca
Former Roma manager Paulo Fonseca might be the least inspiring candidate on this list on paper, because his time with the Giallorossi was pretty uneventful.
However, Fonseca has done good things for Lille since arriving in Ligue 1, as Les Dogue are third and have the potential to secure Champions League football.
Before working with top teams, Fonseca produced some strong work in the Portuguese league and, like Roberto De Zerbi, with Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine. He’s better than some of the dice-roll managers out there and could be underrated.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.