AC Milan expect Ivan Gazidis to become their new CEO in September despite a statement by Arsenal on Wednesday.
Reports in Italy claim that Sir Chips Keswick’s statement changes little in terms of what is happening at the Serie A side, and it’s hard to disagree that the statement from Sir Chips was largely meaningless.
Although many fans got excited thinking it meant Gazidis would be staying, it was actually a masterclass in seeming to say something without saying anything at all.
“We are aware of the speculation surrounding our chief executive Ivan Gazidis,” the statement said.
“We know he receives many offers from organisations inside and outside the game as he’s a hugely respected figure. He has never accepted any of these opportunities and has never spoken about them publicly. He has always been fully committed to taking Arsenal forward and is currently working hard in Singapore with our new head coach Unai Emery as we prepare for the new season.”
Not long after that was released, Tuttomercatoweb published an article that said it was all pretty much irrelevant.
“Despite the Arsenal statement, Ivan Gazidis will soon be a Milan manager,” they wrote.
“According to Sky, this is a statement that guarantees the fans on the work of Gazidis until the end of this transfer window. But from September, the current Arsenal chairman will enter the Milan organization chart.”
In other words, Gazidis will stay with Arsenal until the end of August (the English transfer window closes before the Premier League starts but doesn’t close until the end of August around Europe).
Arsenal will no doubt have hoped that a statement would quieten this all down but it seems to have done absolutely nothing of the sort.
Unai Emery was asked if he had any information about Gazidis’s future and his comments also said little while seeming to say a lot.
“I speak with him every day,” Emery said earlier this week.
“We are committed here for many many years. I think he’s continuing here because it’s a very big project and his commitment with us, Arsenal Football Club, is very big.
“We are speaking about every decision for our club.”
He ‘thinks’…