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Massimiliano Allegri is excited to have Luka Modric on board after describing his determination to return to the Champions League in the Champions League.
Allegri returned to Milan in May after an absence of 11 years and was introduced to today’s media.
The 57-year-old sports director and the new sports director Igli Tare has already made movements in the transfer market with Allegri, which confirms the imminent departure of Theo Hernandez to Al-Hilal, while the veteran midfielder of Real Madrid Modric will arrive after the Club World Cup.
Croatian Modric is now 39 years old, but will join Milan when his contract in Santiago Bernabeu Expires.
“We are waiting for it to join us, it will be here in August,” said Allegri. “He is an important and extraordinary player.”
The preseason begins here 💪#Sempriemilan pic.twitter.com/bvrmfwczuz
– AC Milan (@acmilan) July 5, 2025
Allegri: The goal is to return to the Champions League
Allegri won the Scudetto in his first spell in San Siro and hopes that the club will do better next season than the eighth place they managed in the last term.
He added: “It’s hard to find football explanations and it doesn’t let me say what happened last year. Today a new season begins and we have to focus on it.
“(Last season) AC Milan won a trophy, played in the Coppa Italia final and played great games. No revolution is needed, we have to work on good things done, and it is up to me to do the template as hard as possible. We will need a great dedication to daily work.
“We begin to train ourselves and begin the season with enthusiasm, passion, determination and sense of responsibility. We must create the conditions to achieve our goals at the end of the year: the first objective is to return to the Champions League, in March we must be in this position.
“We can only get there with work and improve -we will try to achieve the best possible results, this must be the goal, never to be satisfied.”
Maignan and Leao to stay in Milan
Goalkeeper Mike Maignan and Winger Rafael Leao have been related to movements, but Allegri seemed confident that they would both remain with Milan next season.
He said, “Mike is one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, I am happy that he has decided to stay and he will be the captain of the team.
“Rafa is an extraordinary player and will have a great season, he is maturing well. I think he is more responsible. I met him this morning and we have talked, he has all the conditions to do it well.”
Allegri has been out of work since he was sacked by Juventus in May 2024. He had two spells with the Bianconeri with the first especially fruitful, bringing the club to five crowns in the A and Four Italy Coppas Coppas.
His second stage was less successful with Juve only by winning the Italy Coppa of 2024 before being fired.
His return to Milan was not universally welcomed by fans who continue to express their frustration in the management of the club under the owners Redbird Capital.
Allegri knows that he has a job in his hands, but he asked everyone to go in the right direction.
“The only way to regain the faith of the fans is to work responsibly and to obtain results that are the most important in football,” he said. “We must first become a team and then the results will come. The fans will have to give us a hand, we need them absolutely.”
Milan opened his season with a Coppa Italia game against Bari before the first game A against Cremons on August 23.
