Former AC Milan sporting director Igli Tare has criticised Christian Pulisic and admitted he was disappointed by the club’s failure to give him direct access to owner Gerry Cardinale.
Tare was appointed in charge of sporting matters after the role had been absent since Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara left in 2023. However, his time at the club lasted less than a year before he was dismissed alongside manager Max Allegri, chief executive Giorgio Furlani and director Geoffrey Moncada in a statement issued on 25 May.
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia’s Calcio Unplugged, Tare said Milan’s failure to qualify for the Champions League remained a major source of frustration.
“The wound of failing to qualify for the Champions League is still deep, enormous in fact,” he said. “If I come to a club like Milan with the target of getting into the Champions League, then I don’t know where I am. This is the most successful club in Italian football history, and after Real Madrid it is the most important in the world.”
Milan also lost the Coppa Italia final, while the squad underwent significant change, with 10 players brought in after others were sold for substantial fees.
Tare said the team needed more time to settle, despite being first or second until the end of March and the beginning of April.
“In the last 10 rounds, our mentality just collapsed due to other issues that I don’t want to get into, but they did have an effect,” he said. “Max and I should’ve paid more attention to certain dynamics, be more present with the squad to get the season over the line.”
He also said Cardinale initially contacted him during negotiations to sign Ardon Jashari, offering to approve additional spending if necessary. But Tare said he never spoke directly to the RedBird owner again because he did not want to bypass those above him.
“I would’ve preferred to have that presence when I was still at Milan,” Tare added, while saying Cardinale had since taken a more hands-on approach.
Tare was also responsible for choosing a new manager and selected Allegri after being instructed to appoint an Italian coach. He said Allegri’s experience and previous success with Milan influenced the decision, adding that the club was particularly significant to him because he won the Scudetto there.
The former Lazio chief said Milan needed more leadership in the squad. He had hoped to pair Luka Modric, who joined as a free agent after leaving Real Madrid, with Granit Xhaka, then captain of Bayer Leverkusen.
But Tare identified Pulisic as his biggest disappointment.
“He’s a great player, but I expected more from him in terms of responsibility and leadership,” he said. “Pulisic didn’t score a goal for six months. Santiago Gimenez didn’t score either. When you have a drought that long, it ends up affecting the whole team’s performance.”
