AC Milan appoint Calvelli to lead RedBird reset

AC Milan have named Massimo Calvelli as chief executive, placing the former head of men’s professional tennis in charge of the club’s sporting and commercial recovery.Calvelli replaces Giorgio Furlani, who left Milan in May as owner RedBird Capital Partners restructured the leadership following what it described as an unequivocal failure of a season.RedBird founder and managing partner Gerry Cardinale said: “Since joining RedBird last year, Massimo has distinguished himself as a leader and driver of organisational design that brings people together and establishes a culture of collaboration and professionalism.“Our model at RedBird often requires our senior leadership to go in house in our most important investments to ensure best-in-class execution, especially in situations requiring change and innovation.”Calvelli will retain his positions as chief executive international at RedBird Development Group and operating partner at RedBird Capital Partners.He has also co-led RedBird’s investment in Milan alongside partner David Castelblanco, giving him an established role within the ownership structure before taking day-to-day control.Cardinale said: “The mandate is clear. We will play to win, instead of playing not to lose, in everything that AC Milan touches, but most importantly on the field.”The appointment gives RedBird a directly embedded executive at Milan as it seeks closer alignment between ownership, football operations and the club’s wider business.Calvelli served as ATP chief executive from 2020 until 2025, overseeing a period of restructuring across men’s professional tennis.His tenure included the introduction of the OneVision strategy, which sought closer commercial integration between tournaments, greater revenue sharing and improvements to the player compensation model.He previously held international leadership roles at Nike, Wilson Sporting Goods and Amer Sports, providing experience across sports governance, consumer products and global commercial development.Calvelli said: “The opportunity to lead AC Milan as it navigates this critical moment in its football trajectory, as well as within the overall state of Italian football, is something I take very seriously and with a profound sense of urgency.“The mandate from Gerry is to bring a culture of winning and results both on and off the field back to AC Milan, a culture worthy of the heritage that the club represents within the European football community and our over 600 million fans worldwide.”His arrival forms part of a wider leadership reset that has also included the appointment of Rúben Amorim as men’s first-team head coach.Milan must rebuild sporting performance while protecting commercial growth, managing squad costs and progressing their long-term stadium strategy.The club also operate within a difficult Italian football market shaped by ageing venues, weaker broadcast revenues than rival European leagues and pressure to qualify consistently for the UEFA Champions League.Calvelli’s immediate task will be to establish clear authority across the organisation and ensure RedBird’s commercial ambitions are supported by a more effective football structure.His first full season will provide an early measure of whether Milan’s ownership-led reorganisation can restore Champions League football and improve returns from the club’s playing investment.