Julen Lopetegui is ready and willing to take over at AC Milan, but according to reports, final approval from owner Gerry Cardinale is still pending.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), Lopetegui has been in Asteasu since Friday, a little village in the Basque Country where he was born and where his father, who is 94 years old, presently lives.
Mr. José Antonio served as mayor of Asteasu, although he was best known as a champion in harri-jasotze, a renowned stone lifting sport in the area.
Julen is going through a difficult time since he is eager to begin a new challenge at Milan, but since the announcement, a petition opposing his employment has garnered 8,000 signatures.
Lopetegui has already been through a storm with Spain and Real Madrid, and it didn’t go well. To the point that, even now, managing the crisis is one of the main arguments of many fans who do not believe he is deserving of a spot on the Milan bench.
Nonetheless, Italy has always evoked positive recollections for him. Lopetegui has never lost to Italian clubs in his career, winning the U21 European Championship against the Azzurri and the Europa League against Conte’s Inter.
He has always or nearly always won, from Francesco Rocca’s Under 20 days to the senior national team. Milan may have also thought of him for this reason.
The current situation
Milan not only considered him, but the management ultimately chose him as the designated coach for the next season. Lopetegui is in pole position and has an agreement in principle with Milan for a three-year contract at €4 million net per season, which is more or less equal to Pioli’s contract. The long period indicates that the club and coach collaborated on a project rather than just a season. It is not yet time to make joint decisions, but a path has been blazed, and the coming week will be critical, if not decisive.
The Champions League is locked in, with West Ham as a potential contender. Lopetegui informed the English club that he has picked Milan, and there is no turning back from here. If anything, he believes it is time to plan for the future with Milan.
Pioli qualified for the Champions League for the fourth time in a row yesterday; whenever he began a season, he finished it with the Rossoneri in the top European league. Before Juve’s deducation, they had been second, first, and fifth the previous season.
Roma’s draw against Napoli yesterday makes it impossible for the Giallorossi and Atalanta to catch up, as they will meet on May 12. It means Milan will almost certainly finish fifth and qualify for the 2024-25 Champions League, the first under the new system. Milan will finish second, much closer to the club’s expectations.
Parla Italiano
Lopetegui can already arrange for his arrival in Milan in July, hoping that there will be no surprises. He speaks English, French, Portuguese, and a little Italian, which may come in helpful shortly.
The goal is to say it very well as early as the summer, and among the objectives for next season, we return to the starting point
His family.
During his time at Wolverhampton, Daniel Lopetegui, Julen’s son, served on the staff. Milan, like Pioli, might feature a father-son duo at Milanello.
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