Paolo Maldini used to lift the cups in his golden period, as a legendary defender during a quarter of a century in the ranks of Milan, but his contribution to ending the team's fasting from winning the Italian League title after 11 years has a special taste now that he has transferred his work to the club's offices.
Maldini retired from playing in 2009, and was away from the club for 9 years before finally returning to it in 2018 as development director, and after one year he became a technical director, and played a prominent role in the club's decisions regarding player transfers.
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Maldini's work resulted in attracting a group of the most prominent talents that coach Stefano Pioli succeeded in cultivating to achieve the desired title.
Maldini's joy seemed overwhelming at the 3-0 victory at Sassuolo Stadium - yesterday evening, Sunday - and he decided the league title in the last round after a fierce struggle with rivals Inter Milan.
His happiness was certainly double, because his son Daniel was among the heroic players' squad, becoming the third member of the family to achieve the feat after Grandfather Cesare.
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After the coronation, Maldini admitted that he had never thought of administrative work and was enjoying a retirement life, but he agreed to the difficult task of helping his club, which had suffered for many years due to its financial and administrative crises, and its status declined after it was one of the giants of Europe during the period of owner Silvio Berlusconi.
Maldini strengthened the squad by including Theo Hernandez from Real Madrid in 2019 for about 20 million euros, and turned into one of the best left-back players in the world today, and was a mainstay in the title journey.
"Maldini talks to me every day, thanks to him and thanks to Pioli I have changed for the better," Hernandez said after his impressive season. "It was difficult to defend here at the beginning."
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In the same summer, he signed striker Raphael Liao from Lille, who scored 11 goals and provided 11 assists this season, and Algerian midfielder Ismail Bennacer, who were among the most important reasons for the coronation.
Maldini continued his hard work in the following season, with the signing of promising midfielder Sandro Tonali, and the loan of Fikayo Tomori from Chelsea, and they were also among the most prominent elements of the successful season.
Maldini was not only impressive in buying, but he dealt wisely with the departure of distinguished goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and quickly replaced him with a wonderful option, Mike Mainan, who kept 18 clean sheets.
prepared myself
Maldini was praised for his deals, in addition to the role of the psychological preparer;
He stimulated the young squad with his experience and leadership personality.
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Pioli praised Maldini's work in building the team during two years. After winning his first title in his coaching career, he said, "Maldini, along with (Sporting Director Frederic) Massara, formed a successful mixture of young and experienced people and established a winning mentality."
He added, "My philosophy is to develop the players I have, but this is more difficult if they are without talent. The club's management was able to bring in talented players, and the contracts paid off."
"The players and the coach deserve to celebrate, we are also happy, I became a manager recently and I still have a lot to learn, we pressured the players to do more, sometimes the players just need confidence, and this is what Massara and I strive to achieve," Maldini said.