AC Milan started the season well enough and were in the Serie A title discussion for a long stretch.
However, the Rossoneri soon began to fall out of the picture in the second half of the season after failing to recruit properly in January to sustain the title charge.
The result of that failure was a massive capitulation that saw Milan drop to third place on the Serie A table in a two-horse race by matchweek 37, but the worst was yet to come.
Milan lost to Cagliari on the final day, dropping to fifth and missing out on Champions League football for the second successive season.
The Milan hierarchy has responded by dismissing head coach Massimiliano Allegri, sporting director Igli Tare, chief executive Giorgio Furlani and technical director Geoffrey Moncada.
According to Sky Sports, they have now approached Andoni Iraola to replace Allegri in the dugout, with plans to fill other positions in the coming weeks.
Surprisingly, Milan are thinking outside the box and looking at an exciting name who isn’t one of the regurgitated options in the Italian league.
Iraola caught the eye at Rayo Vallecano and established himself as one of the most promising young managers in the game at Bournemouth.
Despite being a selling club, he kept them competitive and helped secure Europa League football for the first time in their 127-year history. He did it while playing front-footed football relentlessly.
His gung-ho style will be radically different from the slow, overly tactical football played in Serie A.
However, if Milan are serious about making Iraola work in Serie A, they cannot treat this as a simple coaching appointment.
His success at Bournemouth has been built on alignment from top to bottom – a clear playing identity backed by smart, forward-thinking recruitment.
Even with constant squad turnover – Illia Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo all left last summer – the structure has remained intact and competitive.
Bournemouth are consistently punching above their weight through cohesive, aggressive football and strong squad planning.
That is the real lesson for Milan. Iraola thrives in an ecosystem where recruitment and coaching are fused, not fragmented. Without that, even the most progressive ideas will stall.
Which is why Milan’s next move off the pitch may be just as important as the one in the dugout.
They should look to replicate Bournemouth’s sporting model by targeting first-team technical director, Simon Francis.
Francis is poised to leave the Cherries this summer. Pairing Iraola with that kind of recruitment leadership would be the clearest signal yet that Milan are finally building with purpose.
Allegri didn’t fail simply because of his dour tactics. Milan’s summer and winter transfer window additions were not up to scratch.
Signings like Pervis Estupinan, Niclas Fullkrug, and Christopher Nkunku have been terrible and reflect a sporting leadership that lacks vision and foresight.
Milan signing Iraola would be a coup, but it’d be even better if they matched him with an equally brilliant sporting structure.