Leonardo sets sights on AC Milan and Inter owners

Leonardo discussed two challenges he sees in the investment landscape, noting that while he is not versed in technical business terms, he observed a trend of American investors increasingly looking to Europe for opportunities.

“They invest in Europe for two things. Because football is important, but football in Europe for them is cheaper than in the USA.

“So, if you consider your investment the cheaper one of your group, I think the kind of management you can put in, perhaps is not the top level you have. We can see a lot of American funds investing in football but not putting the top-level management, and not even football management.

“So, if you don’t know football, if you don’t know the context, the city you arrive in, the culture, the tradition and even the history of a club, it’s not easy to manage, to interact, to make people believe in your project.”

Along with Milan and Inter, Leonardo also acted as sports director with PSG.

“The truth is that I worked for Paris Saint-Germain,” he added.

“They started in 2011 and in 13 years they constructed a club, a brand, a sports centre, they want to do a stadium, not just to speculate and sell the club, but to create something strong to remain there.

“In the same period of 13 years, Milan for example had four owners. It’s very complicated to do a project with four owners in 13 years.

“I don’t want to be polemic but the president of the fund is not the owner of the club. The owners are the investors.

“So you have someone in the middle to manage a club, which he never did before. A club of football is not like selling chocolate, you have 25 guys, one coach, the supporters, the press, it’s very specific.”