Daniel Maldini Faces Family Dynasty as Monza Welcome AC Milan
Published on: November 1, 2024
There is something different about AC Milan this season.
And that is not just the fact Paulo Fonseca sits in the dugout – although for how long, remains to be seen – nor that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is now the kingmaker at the San Siro or that Alvaro Morata has replaced Olivier Giroud up front.
This particular change runs deeper, arguably through the very fabric of the club.
For the first time in 72 years, a member of the Maldini family is no longer on the Rossoneri’s books in some capacity.
After spending the second half of last season on loan at Monza, Daniel Maldini made the move permanent in the summer, ending the family’s seven decade-long association with Il Diavolo.
The Maldinis are deeply etched in the history of Milan.
Daniel’s grandfather, Cesare, joined the club in 1954 from Triestina and nine years later became the first Rossoneri captain to lift the European Cup, one of five major trophies he won alongside four Serie A titles.
Maldini made 412 appearances in all competitions over 12 seasons in Milan, before returning to the San Siro in 1972 and lifting the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the Coppa Italia in his first season in charge.
If Cesare set the bar high, his son Paolo became synonymous with the Rossoneri, perhaps more than any other player in their history.
Maldini won 26 major trophies in 25 seasons with Milan, racking up a staggering 902 appearances in all competitions for the club.
Four decades after his father had become the first Milan captain to lift the European Cup, Maldini got his hands on the trophy after the Rossoneri beat Juventus on penalties at Old Trafford.
He repeated the feat in 2007, lifting the Champions League for the fifth time in a stellar career, which also included seven Serie A titles.
A tearful goodbye to the San Siro
Franco Baresi’s successor as captain, Maldini wore the armband for 12 seasons until his retirement in 2009, which was overshadowed by a bitter send off.
“Thank you, Captain: a champion on the pitch, but you disrespected those who made you rich,” read a banner on the Curva Sud.
Maldini was in tears as boos cascaded down from the stands. The Ultras booed his departure as much as Milan fans booed the Ultras’ distasteful send off.
Loud chants of “There’s only captain”, a nod to Baresi, made the atmosphere all the more surreal.
Milan’s Ultras hadn’t offered an olive branch and none were forthcoming from Maldini himself.
“I am proud to be nothing like them,” was his scathing verdict when asked about the ultras reception.
The seeds of discontent between the ultras and Maldini were sown four years earlier.
In the aftermath of Milan’s capitulation against Liverpool in the Champions League final, a group of ultras waited for the team at Milan’s airport the following day.
An angry exchange ensued, with Maldini allegedly branding the ultras as “mercenaries”, a slight they never forgot.
If Maldini’s relationship with the ultras was complicated, his rapport with the club soured too.
Maldini was offered the position of technical director shortly after his retirement, but declined the offer.
When Leonardo and Massimiliano Allegri again floated the idea during their respective stints in charge of the Rossoneri, Milan vetoed Maldini’s involvement.
Eventually, he returned to the San Siro in 2018 as sporting director, working alongside Leonardo shortly after Elliott Management purchased the club following Yonghong Li’s brief and ill-fated ownership.
“When I joined Milan as a director with Leonardo it was because I worked with a person who had the same ideas,” he told Radio Serie A in May.
“Why did I choose this role? Because it was Milan. The work itself is completely different from what I expected and it took me about 10 months to adapt.”
Maldini may have taken time to adapt to the role, but he was instrumental in signing the likes of Rafael Leao, Olivier Giroud and Mike Maignan, crucial figures in the Rossoneri’s Scudetto triumph in 2022.
But Elliott’s sale to Red Bird Capital spelt another end for Maldini at Milan, with the former Rossoneri captain leaving the club for a second time in the summer of last year.
A return to the San Siro appears improbable, considering Maldini hasn’t even returned to the Giuseppe Meazza to watch his former club.
“San Siro? I don’t go to the stadium to watch Milan,” he said.
“To me it’s logical. I follow everything, I follow Milan and Monza but it seems logical to me not to go to the stadium.”
The latest Maldini to play for Italy
Maldini should be in attendance when Monza host Milan on Saturday at the U-Power Stadium to watch his son Daniel in action.
The 22-year-old has been one of the Brianzoli’s best performers so far this season and in October followed up in the steps of his father and grandfather by receiving his first Italy call-up.
Paolo won 126 caps for the Azzurri in a 14-year career, while Cesare played 14 times for the Nazionale, which he led to the 1998 World Cup as a manager.
Living up to such rich history is a tall task for the youngest of the Maldinis, but Luciano Spalletti believes he has all it takes to be successful.
“He is a player that we have been missing,” the Italy manager said of the Monza midfielder, who grew up in Milan’s academy.
“He has a beautiful way of playing, he holds his own in tackles, he knows how to get his nose in front of defenders and it becomes difficult to catch him.
“He knows how to play with his back to goal, sometimes he can go quiet in games, but I’ve seen him play with continuity and I think he’s grown significantly.”
His son isn’t Maldini’s only connection to Monza, who are owned by the late Silvio Berlusconi’s family.
The controversial media mogul was in charge of Milan for 31 years and Maldini retained a special relationship with Italy’s former Prime Minister – in itself something that irked the Ultras, whose stance on Berlusconi had long shifted as his ownership entered its final years.
“Berlusconi brought a modern and visionary idea not only of football but of the world,” Maldini recalled to Radio Serie A.
“That relationship never wore out, we made lots of jokes together. Berlusconi was for me a second father. When he was taken to hospital he called me because he wanted to exchange some words about Milan and Monza and it was fun.”
Monza are also managed by Alessandro Nesta, who played alongside Maldini for Italy and Milan, winning eight major trophies together with the Rossoneri.
After a rocky start to their first season under Nesta, Monza have lifted themselves out of the relegation zone, albeit only on goal difference.
Milan, by contrast, remain consistently inconsistent, with two defeats in the last three matches leaving Fonseca on the precipice of yet another crisis.
Defeat against Monza would make the Portuguese’s position almost untenable just over a month after victory in the Derby della Madonnina saved his job.
For the first time in seven decades, Milan will be hoping Maldini has a day off against them.
