Ivan Gazidis: ‘We have brought Milan back. People said it was impossible’

“It takes a little time to work out the significance,” Ivan Gazidis says as, in his role as the chief executive of Milan, he describes his emotions after the club won their first Serie A title in 11 years the weekend before last. Gazidis held a similar position at Arsenal for 10 years before leaving London amid accusations that the club stagnated during his tenure. He has led a far more impressive resurgence at Milan where a bold plan has been vindicated.

After watching Milan win their final game of the season, 3-0 away to Sassuolo, Gazidis remembers that “you’re straight into euphoria and joy but you then realise this is quite a monumental achievement not just for what we’ve done but how we’ve done it – which is very different. Even at the beginning of the season we believed that we’d created something special based on a clear idea of building a new Milan around a very young team. I think it’s the youngest team in modern history to win the Scudetto and one of the youngest teams in Europe. It also has a unity of purpose within the club and with the fans.”

When Gazidis arrived at Milan on 1 December 2018 the old Italian giant was in turmoil. Milan had been close to bankruptcy until, that September, they were bought by the hedge fund Elliot. They were then subject to a ban from European competition for failing Uefa’s financial fair play regulations which limit the losses clubs are allowed to make.

Elliot are owned by Paul Singer, an American financier, whose son, Gordon, is close friends with Gazidis. The 57-year-old Gazidis, who was born in South Africa but grew up in England, says: “It wasn’t my relationship with Gordon that convinced me. I loved the idea of doing something challenging in a new environment – even