Milan are celebrating their 123rd birthday today with a friendly against an old rival. They are also celebrating a new shirt deal with Emirates that should bring €90-€105 million to the club over the next three years. Not a bad way to mark an important date. Yet they haven't forgotten what it means to be Milan. Happy 123rd, AC Milan!
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| Not a bad birthday way to kick off the Birthday weekend |
Today, Milan will face Liverpool in the Dubai Super Cup. While it is just a friendly, the history of Champions League finals played in both Istanbul and Athens always comes to mind when we face this English side. Pioli will have roughly the same players available as he did on Tuesday vs. Arsenal. While De Ketelaere and Kjaer have returned from their World Cup breaks, Kjaer trained separately. Also, Calabria returned to training with the squad, but Messias and Maignan still trained separately.
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| So happy to see our captain back in training |
The shirt deal was announced yesterday. Emirates have sponsored Milan since 2007, and this new and much improved deal indicates their continued commitment to the club. Previously, Emirates' primary shirt sponsorship was worth €14 million per year. Now, it is worth €30 million per year. This brings our total shirt sponsorship up from €39 million to €55 million per year.
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| Maldini, Furlani, and Stylsvig in Dubai for the announcement |
Not a bad birthday gift for a club that has been steadily rebuilding since a certain former owner finally let go of it and sold it just five years ago. That same owner who just promised his new club this week something extremely inappropriate in an attempt to bribe/motivate them. We have come so very far in such a short period of time, both in terms of class and rebuilding. Whatever happens in this friendly, however we may fall short of your expectations, don't forget just how far we've come. Keep bleeding red and black, in good times and in bad.
Happy 123rd Birthday, AC Milan!
This post inspired by the music of She Wants Revenge
Reviewed by Elaine
on
12:35 AM
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