The 2026-2027 Serie A season is about to start and everything has changed at AC Milan -- a new manager, a new sporting director and a new strategy behind the summer transfer business. After the failure at the end of the 2025-2026 season when the Rossoneri ended up not clinching a Champions League spot and will be part of the Europa League this season, AC Milan owner Gerry Cardinale shook up the club and completely changed the hierarchy, starting with a new coach and new CEO. Coach Massimiliano Allegri, sporting director Igli Tare, and technical director Geoffrey Moncada, as well as club CEO Giorgio Furlani, all left their positions following the disappointment and Cardinale himself led the process to appoint a new coach alongside RedBird advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic and club director Massimo Calvelli.
While the new season is about to kick off, Brand Finance underlined some positive aspects of the cycle led by Cardinale, as the Italian giants are the fastest-growing football brand in the world between 2021 and 2026, with a 236% increase in brand value, ahead of Aston Villa, Porto, Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal. While Cardinale held talks with different managers ahead of the new season, the American businessman ended up appointing former Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese coach seemed immediately eager to start his Serie A adventure after the disappointment of the Premier League spell, as he was sacked by Manchester United following a poor start to the 2025-26 season, and replaced by Michael Carrick.
Amorim is ready to embrace a new challenge in a new country after a successful spell at Sporting CP, where he won two Portuguese league titles, three League Cups and one Portuguese Super Cup before moving to Manchester United in November 2024. Speaking to the media in his last press conference ahead of the new season, he said: "We have a squad capable of winning every match, in any competition. So, if we go step by step, we can achieve something significant.
In the Europa League, we must believe and we must want to win the competition. Then there's Serie A: We know we'll face many teams who have been working with their coaches for a long time, so it will be difficult, but I can't come here and say we can't or don't want to win the league. There's a lot of work to do given there's a new manager and changes to the squad, but when you're at a club of Milan's stature, you have to aim for the title".
Brand Finance underlined how AC Milan continued its strong financial and commercial growth under RedBird and Gerry Cardinale, with its brand value rising 28% year-on-year to a record €514 million. That increase moved the club from 16th to 14th among the world's most valuable football brands, overtaking Juventus, while its 236% growth since 2021 makes it the fastest-growing football brand globally over that period. The club's wider financial performance has followed the same trend.
Milan returned to profitability in 2022-23 after 17 years and has remained profitable for three consecutive seasons, while recording record revenues for three straight years. In 2024-25, revenue reached €494.5 million, more than 66% higher than in 2021-22, the final season before RedBird's acquisition. Deloitte's figures further highlight Milan's growth, with the club ranking first in Europe for commercial revenue growth (+28.1%) and stadium revenue growth (+39.6%), while sponsorship revenue surpassed €100 million for the first time in 2025/26.
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