AC Milan are appointing Ruben Amorim. Multiple reports confirm the former Manchester United manager will take charge from July, ending a chaotic coaching search that at various points involved Mauricio Pochettino, Oliver Glasner, and Ralf Rangnick.
This is Milan's fourth managerial change in under two years. That number alone tells you what kind of club Amorim is walking into — one that has dismantled its entire football structure after failing to finish in the Serie A top four last season and missing out on Champions League football as a result.
The Pochettino subplot worth understanding
Pochettino wasn't just a rumour. The USMNT head coach had two virtual meetings with Milan, per CBS Sports sources, and expressed genuine interest in joining after the World Cup. His candidacy was tied to Ramon Planes, the former Barcelona sporting director who was also in talks to fill the vacancy left by Igli Tare. When Milan shifted their sporting director target to Eintracht Frankfurt's Markus Krosche, both Pochettino and Planes were dropped together. One deal collapsed and took the other with it.
Rangnick's situation was different. The Austria manager held multiple conversations about a head of football role — a position that would have given him oversight of the entire football operation, including manager appointments. Milan ultimately decided they didn't want that structure. Rangnick signed a new contract with the Austrian federation through 2028 on Sunday.
So the list of candidates who were seriously considered and then passed over includes a World Cup manager, a European Championship finalist's coach, and a former Premier League manager. Amorim was the choice after all of that.
What Amorim inherits
The front office is being rebuilt from scratch. CEO Giorgio Furlani is gone. Sporting director Tare is gone. Head of recruitment Geoffrey Moncada is gone. Massimiliano Allegri has left. Amorim arrives into an institution that is being reconstructed around him, with Gerry Cardinale and Zlatan Ibrahimovic driving the rebuild.
Whether that's an opportunity or a liability depends entirely on whether Krosche gets the sporting director role and how quickly they can assemble a coherent transfer strategy. Milan without Champions League football are already working with a smaller budget and reduced pull in the transfer market. Their odds of returning to Europe's top table next season start with whether this reshaped structure can function from day one — and Amorim's record at Sporting CP suggests he can build something from a clear vision. His time at United suggests the environment around him matters just as much as his tactics.
RedBird are betting he's the answer. They've had four attempts to find one.
