Football was no longer Leão’s priority, says former Milan sporting director Tare

Igli Tare, who spent one season as Milan’s sporting director, has spoken publicly about his time at the club for the first time. On the Sky Calcio Unplugged video podcast, released on 13 November, he discussed Rafael Leão’s attitude, a collapsed deal with Liverpool and the mistakes he and coach Massimiliano Allegri made.

Who’s who

Tare, a former Albania striker, ran the football side at Lazio for many years before joining Milan in 2025. The club sacked him in May 2026 along with Allegri, chief executive Giorgio Furlani and director Geoffrey Moncada after the team failed to qualify for the Champions League. Milan are owned by RedBird, the American investment firm led by Gerry Cardinale.

Leão and Gomez

Of the Portuguese forward Rafael Leão, Tare said: “I think football was no longer a priority for him.” He pointed to Leão’s interest in music and fashion and to fitness problems, adding that the player “always played with the handbrake on”. Tare also called him “an extraordinary guy” he was genuinely fond of, and said no concrete offers for Leão ever arrived. Leão joined Galatasaray of Turkey in the summer.

Tare also revealed that Milan had agreed a deal with Liverpool for the England defender Joe Gomez. “We were only waiting for it to close, but at the last moment they took a step back,” he said. Liverpool pulled out after their move for the Crystal Palace defender Marc Guéhi collapsed, and Milan signed Odogu at the last minute as a signing for the future.

Allegri, Cardinale and the collapse

“I, first of all, together with Allegri, should have been a bit more attentive to certain dynamics,” Tare said. He described them as external to the squad but would not go into detail. Milan were first or second until early April, he said, before a “mental collapse” in the last ten rounds. He called the final 2-1 home defeat by Cagliari at San Siro the worst match of his life.

Tare said Cardinale called him only once, during the negotiations for the midfielder Ardon Jashari, and offered to spend more money if needed. Otherwise he never had the chance to speak to the owner, because he did not want to go over the heads of his superiors. “I would have preferred to have that presence when I was there,” he said of Cardinale’s current involvement at the club.

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