![]() Ronald has registered the most headed goals in the 21st century with 112 goals coming off his head. If the bid fails, then it’s status as the new Ligue 1 will be prolonged, and a Tonali, or two, will leave the league every summer.Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo ’s goal-scoring exploits know no bounds, and one of his biggest sources of goals over the years have come from headers. Should Italy fail to win the rights to host Euro 2032, with the decision due in September, things could get even bleaker. No league had as big a head start as Serie A to stay ahead of the curve at the dawn of the millennium, yet the money was squandered on players the popularity banked from the glory days of the 1980s and ‘90s dissipated by a scandal too many. Such has been the resistance to modernise not just stadiums, but the overall product, mentality and the league’s organisation that clubs have been over reliant on TV money for decades. Yet it’s hard to have any sympathy for the Italian game and the lack of money within it. These kind of figures are disastrous for the Italian game, even with four different champions in as many years and three Italian teams reaching European finals this season, there seems little appetite from broadcasters to pay a high price for their own product. However, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis confirmed that the figure was actually lower than €600m per-season. Rumours circulated that the total number from DAZN, Sky Italia and Mediaset amounted to €600m ($653m) per-season, some €500m ($544m) short of the intended target. On the domestic front, the bidding process has been shambolic. Luigi De Siervo, Lega Serie A president, aimed for around €1.1bn ($1.2bn) per-season for domestic rights, and around €400m ($435m) per-season for international rights, bringing in a total of €1.5bn ($1.6bn) per-season for five years for Serie A clubs. The thought process is that a longer term would equal greater investment in the product. The next cycle of TV rights is currently up for tender, with the Italian government relaxing the Melandri law and allowing foreign TV companies to hold the rights for up to five years rather than just three. Milan’s revenue for the 2022-23 season is projected to be somewhere in the €350m ($382m) region, but it’s unlikely to increase any higher due to the current state of Serie A and zero progress on a new stadium. In an indictment of where the game has gone in the last 30 years, in order to make money in football, you simply have to spend it, and Cardinale can’t rely on the club’s revenue stream. This is purely down to profit Tonali was bought for €25m ($27m), now he’s being sold for three-times the amount. This isn’t a deal made under duress, likes the ones Inter made in selling off Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi two years ago. ![]() Moreover, their qualification to next season’s Champions League insures more money. Their run to the semi final of the Champions League will see them in the black, or very close to it, once their 2022-23 balance sheet is posted later this year. Unlike Juve, Inter and Roma who are under mountains of debt, Milan have been run expertly since Elliott Management got their hands on the club. The ironic part in the Tonali deal is that Milan actually don’t need the money. Fabio Caressa, the long-time Italian commentator, compared the current status of the league to Ligue 1, in so far as Serie A now finds and produces players for the Premier League in much the same way as France has done for the last quarter century. ![]() Of course, Tonali is being pushed to leave Milan, rather than it being the will of the player, but it reinforces what many have known for a long time: Serie A is merely than a transition league.
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