Real Madrid News
Serie A club CEO waxes lyrical about Carlo Ancelotti: “He is the greatest, period”
AC Milan are set to face AC Monza for the first time in Serie A history later this evening. It promises to be a special game for Monza CEO Adriano Galliani, who had spent 31 years as the chairman of Milan before returning to his hometown club in 2017.
Ahead of the game, Galliani spoke to Diario AS about various topics, including his time with current Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Ancelotti was the AC Milan manager from 2001 to 2009, helping the Rossoneri secure two UEFA Champions League titles, along with one Serie A title.
Galliani hailed the Italian’s exploits in the game, reminding that apart from winning four UCL titles as a manager, he had also lifted two as a player at AC Milan.
“With Carlo they are wrong. They say that he has won four Champions League titles, but there are six! With Milan, he also raised two as a player,” he said.
“He is the greatest, period. Nobody won the top five leagues and I think we will never see anything like it again. Only he can do something like that,” he added, praising the Real Madrid manager.
Ancelotti had indeed won two Champions League titles with AC Milan. a club he represented 160 times before retiring in 1992.
Galliani added that he maintains an excellent relationship with Carlo Ancelotti. He also admitted his love for Real Madrid, praising club legend Alfredo Di Stefano, in particular.
“With Carlo, we continue to have a great relationship. And, furthermore, Madrid has always been special to me. I already told you that, as a child, I was moved by Di Stefano and, as a director of Milan, I was moved every time I ran into him at a meal. That is unforgettable,” he added.
There is no way back for Eden Hazard at Real Madrid. The Belgian international has not given the management any reason to have faith in his abilities over his past four seasons at the club and is unsurprisingly the most important departure for the Merengues in the summer.
Hazard has one more year on his contract in Madrid. However, it is clear that Carlo Ancelotti does not trust him and that any potential replacement manager in the summer will echo his stance.
According to reports from Mundo Deportivo, Fenerbahce are willing to go all out to sign Hazard this summer. The Turkish side have made the former Chelsea their prime target, yet face a steep task ahead of them.
The 32-year-old is hellbent on seeing out his contract with Los Blancos despite seeing his career sink right before his eyes. It thus becomes complicated for the party to lure away the forward, especially in a competition outside Europe’s top five leagues.
Fenerbahce attempted to sign the winger in the recently concluded winter transfer market. They reached an agreement with Real Madrid but failed to get over the line as they could not convince the player of the move.
The biggest obstacle for the Turkish side will be convincing Hazard to make the move by letting go of his lucrative contract in Madrid. The chances are slim, but not impossible.
Hazard has made just three league appearances and one start for Ancelotti’s side this season in La Liga, a steep fall from last season’s 18 and seven respectively.
His last appearance for the team came back in January when Real Madrid faced Cacereno in the Copa del Rey. In La Liga however, he last played in September 2022 in a 4-1 win over Mallorca.
